This guide is somewhat long, so I have organized the information into general sections. If don't find the specific info you are looking for (say, track restrictions), you can use the search function of steam or your browser to find it.

I don't care if this guide is copied or referenced, but I would appreciate a credit, and I would ask that a link to this guide be provided. Mostly this is to ensure that copies can at least point to this guide for updated info.

This guide is current up to v0.8.8.20.

Steam keeps losing images (not screenshots) from this guide, so if you see the metro layout image missing, that is why.

This guide is not really meant for new players, but for intermediate players who are ready to learn more about the finer points of the signalling system and other railroad mechanics.

I will assume that the reader knows what a line is and how to make/alter one, what a depot is, how train distribution offices work, most of the other basic concepts of the game, and has at least played the in game tutorials at some point.

If you are not comfortable with these concepts, consider perusing the other guides people have made or replaying the game's tutorials.

Drillboy Jenkins' guide really helped me to understand the signal system in W&R:SR and is almost perfect; but some subjects are missing, have changed a bit, or were incomplete (the metro system is the biggest missing part). Still, I got to give credit to Drillboy Jenkins for their work.

Give his guide a thumbs up if you don't mind.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2748200559


Tigrovica's guide is also pretty good, but it only deals with Trams.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2926029360

Various UI Tools that can be used to manage trains are explained here.
There are three overlays that simply show the locations of specific types of train vehicles. Personally I do not consider them that useful.

You can find them under the "Trains" tab in the overlays menu.

Sometimes you will also hear about "trains colliding," but sadly instead of a glorious explosion or crash, this only refers to a deadlock where trains approach each other on the same track and slowly come to a stop. Trains never actually hit each other; instead your notifications will include a message about two trains "colliding," when it is just their pathing malfunctioning.

Sometimes "colliding" trains will also become confused and reverse directions.

Probably the most useful UI tool in the game. You can sort all of the trains in your republic by name and type to find out where they went. There is also an availability menu that you can browse to compare trains and find out their prices.

These key commands require cheats to be enabled, which you can do by pressing the keys 'c,' 'h,' and 'e' simultaneously.

• Show train's path - Open the menu of the train, then press and hold the 'c' key.

The train's planned path will be highlighted in brown/dark orange, except for the final building it plans to enter. This is great for trying to figure out why a train is stopped for no reason.

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• Show train's next block - Open the train's menu, then press and hold the 'x' key.

This will highlight the next block that the train plans to enter. Once the train enters a segment of this block, that segment will no longer be highlighted. Switches will also have a cyan dot on their right side.

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• Show train's nodes - Open the train's menu, then press and hold the 'c' key.

This will highlight the nodes in the train's path. Green is the current node the train is headed towards, yellow nodes are nodes the train has passed, and red nodes are all later nodes in the train's path.

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• Teleport train home - Open the train's or track builder's menu and press 'Ctrl - h'

This only works for trains sent out by train distribution offices or RCOs, but it can be a cheesy way to speed up construction. More honorable players will use this to fix bugs or pathing mistakes.

• Set fuel to 10 liters - Open the train's menu and press "ctrl - f,"

Kind of a useless trick for trains, but this will set the fuel tank of the train (or any other vehicle) to 10 liters of fuel, which is typically only a few seconds of fuel for an accelerating train.

This handy UI has two modes, both of which are very useful for monitoring your republic's vehicles and selecting new ones.

The first mode lists all the vehicles in your republic with their status and some stats.


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From here you can sort vehicles by type and sub types (road vehicles, and personal cars, for example). You can sort further by the following categories:

• Brand - Really, this is whatever the name of the vehicle is, which defaults to the vehicle's brand/model name. You could rename a car "Lightning McQueen" and that's how it will show up here.
  
  If you press Ctrl - B, these names will be replaced by the vehicles exact coordinates, which is nice for testing vehicles because you have exact positions, but since you can just click on the vehicle's entry to open its menu, this won't be useful for most occasions.
  
  
• Type - The type of the vehicle. This is nice for looking at a category of vehicles at once, or to locate a missing truck or mechanism you cannot find.
  
  
• Building/Next Stop - this will display the current destination of a moving vehicle or where it is currently stored at, with a few exceptions:
  • Parked personal cars will always display the parking lot that their residency parking reservation is at, even if unowned and sitting in another lot. Personal cars will show an actual destination if their owners are driving them somewhere.
    
  • Vehicles belonging to a Construction Office or Distribution Office will always display their office's name.
    
  • Vehicles being transported on another vehicle will display nothing.
    
  • Ships docking at a harbor may not have accurate coordinates.
  This category is much more useful if you rename the places and parking lots in your republic so a clutter of useless words doesn't fill the screen. The main reason is that you cannot click on the destination to show you where it is. The best option other than renaming, is to open the vehicle's menu, enable cheats, and press i to show you the coordinates of the its path. Pressing C (also needs cheats enabled) will show you your mouse cursor's coordinates at the top left of the screen, and you can use that to find wherever this mystery destination is at (use the last movement point).
  
  
• Length - Currently this is the only place in the game to find out how long some of the vehicles are to a tenth of a meter. Length matters for some vehicles, but not others:
  • Road vehicles - Shorter lengths are better for intersection throughput and allow more cars to be transported by other vehicles. Usually doesn't matter.
    
  • Boats - Determines the harbors it can dock at. Ships that are too long cannot dock at some of the smaller docks.
    
  • Trains - Maximum train lengths are limited by depot/distribution-office, so shorter engines/wagons means more can fit into a given length. Some rail vehicles are also too big to be bought at medium customs houses.
    
  • Airplanes - Only affects time to get off the runway onto the tarmac (this limits airport throughput). Width determines minimum pad size, but is only displayed in their menu and popups.
    
  • Helicopters - Doesn't matter at all (to my knowledge).
• Weight/Cargo - This shows a vehicle's unloaded weight with its cargo's weight in ( ). Unfortunately, the game will round vehicle and cargo weights to the first decimal, so you will need to open a vehicle's menu to determine its exact weight. Fuel weighs nothing once in a vehicle's fuel tank.
  
  
• Speed - Shows how fast a vehicle is going. Vehicles that are being transported on other vehicles will show a speed of zero.
  
  
• Fuel/kW - Shows how much fuel is left in the vehicle as a percentage of its full tank. This is nice for finding where vehicles run out of fuel at, and monitoring the fuel levels of cars in an area.
  
  
• Engine - Displays the vehicle's engine, which can be used to calculate the weight/liters of fuel left in a vehicles. Some airplanes list their engine in kN (like the Tu-144), but it will be displayed in kW here (apparently 1 kN = 100 kW).
  
  
• Value - This displays the amount of money you get for selling a used vehicle, which is about 70% of what a new vehicle will get/cost you. You can multiply the displayed value by 1.428 or divide it by 0.70 to get a close estimate of what a new vehicle will sell for.

This second mode shows you all of the vehicles in the game, and let's you preview some of their attributes. This mode is accessed by checking the box in the top right of the menu, next to "Types availability."


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Like the previous mode, you can view the brand, weight, engine rating, and resale value of each vehicle, but speed and length will be unavailable to you. You do get two new categories though: years of availability, and country of origin. The number of passengers will now also be displayed under weight/cargo as a number with a p on it, such as 1t (4p).

You can find out what a vehicle will cost before building a dock or aircraft pad by taking the price displayed here and dividing it by 0.70. This also works for other vehicles, but you can just check the price for them at a customs house or beyond the borders.

The general settings menu has a "Trains run on the left track" option for the degenerates that want to use it. So far it seems to just affect the double semaphore tool.

In the cheat menu, you can disable the "Train route signal" feature, but then trains may start pathing poorly or be unable to use some of the features. I would recommend you leave it enabled.

The railway logic and signalling system is discussed here in all its glory (and hair pulling frustration).

The basic idea of railway signalling is that the track is divided by signals into sections called "blocks" where only one train is allowed to be in at any time. Signals then control the access into and out of these blocks to prevent trains from obstructing the paths of other trains or to force trains to take a certain path.

Trains can also operate on tracks without any signalling, but collisions, confusion, and poor performance is common on tracks with more than one train or with any level of complexity beyond the simplest arrangements. Track builders are perhaps the only exception to this, but they are still far from perfect.


Signals (also called "Semaphores") serve five roles in the railway signal system:

1. To divide tracks into blocks.
   
2. To control trains' access into and out of blocks.
   
3. To display the status of the signal and the block(s) they connect to.
   
4. To indicate the current behavior of trains (ignoring, waiting for a two-way to clear, etc.)
   
5. To act as waypoints for directing trains to the desired route (if selected in a line).

There are two types of one-way signals: "normal" and "chain" (also called "pre-signal"), and these signals can be combined to make two-way signals, including a two-way "mixed" signal with a normal and chain signal pointing in opposite directions.

Normal signals are depicted as a single arrow (→).
Chain signals are depicted as two conjoined triangles (>>).
Two-way signals are depicted as a combination of two one-way signals (e.g. ←→, << >>)
There is also a Mixed Signal, which is a combination of a normal signal and a chain signal (←>>)


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To place a signal simply select the type you want (normal, chain, or "mixed") and click on the track where you want it. To change directions and/or to cycle between one-way and two-way configurations, simply click on the signal again. To delete a signal, you have to select the "Cancel semaphore" tool and then click on the signal you want deleted; deleting the track will also delete any signals on them.

Signals cannot be placed everywhere though; they cannot be placed inside buildings, metro tunnels, nor on switches, and for bridges and non-metro tunnels, they can only be placed on the nodes where bridge segments connect.


When you are placing signals, the game will tend to snap the mouse cursor to nearby nodes like building's track connections and track switches (that you cannot place signals on), and signals and waypoints (that you may not want to change); but you can minimize the snapping distance by arranging your viewpoint to be looking straight down at the ground, right above the track where you want the signal to go.

This allows you to build signals and waypoints closer to buildings, switches, and other signals and waypoints, which can save space for compact layouts or maximize the number of blocks for small individual rail vehicles to wait in, such as locomotives, trams, and motor wagons.


You should also avoid placing/deleting signals and waypoints under trains due to a number of bugs and issues that may occur as a result.


There is also a "Double semaphores" tool (icon looks like: 2×↑↓), which with a single click, will place one-way normal signals on both sides of a pair of tracks that you placed together with the "Near Snap (F4)" feature.

The signal directions can be reversed by the "Trains run on the left track" option found in the general settings.

This tool saves so many clicks when setting up a pair of main line tracks, but remember that you have to build the tracks with the near snap feature to use it.


Signals will display a color dependent on the track conditions and the train's pathing:

• Green - The block ahead is clear (the train may still need to stop though.)
  
• Red - A train is in the block ahead. Red chain signals indicate ahead blocks are all occupied.
  
• Flashing Red (White) - The signal is being ignored.
  
• Yellow - A train is waiting for track (typically two-way) ahead to clear.
  
• Blue - A chain signal is blue when the exiting signals for the block ahead are a mix of green/blue and red.

Each signal color can be seen in this screenshot:

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These special signals will be discussed in the next few sections.

Waypoints are another object you can place on a rail track similar to signals, but unlike signals, they will not break up blocks. Their main use is in helping vehicles navigate the railway, typically as a "stop" in a line, but they do more than that. Waypoints are placed and deleted like signals are, but the waypoint tool can also delete them.


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Waypoints serve three purposes in the railway:

• To create (and delete) nodes without breaking up a block (and its logic)
  - This is useful for providing points to reverse at, especially for track builders.
  
• To direct trains into a specific track (typically within a station) without breaking up the block.
  
• To create switchbacks for other trains, except for an RDO's trains.
  (This can break a train's line logic if you're not careful.)

While waypoints are useful for acting as "stops" in a train's line, you can also use signals as waypoints; both will be recorded in the line as "Waypoint." Since you don't necessarily need to place waypoints if you have a convenient signal to use instead, you can forgo placing a waypoint to make track shorter.

If you need to know what "Waypoint" the line is referring to, the only way to find out is to double click on the line entry, which will zoom in to the waypoint/signal.

Whatever you use to guide trains, remember that waypoints need to be entered in a train's line before the intended station/destination; otherwise, it will choose any path to (and any track of) the station/destination and then try to go to the waypoint, which may force the train to take a redundant route or get confused if no path exists.

You can add a signal or waypoint into a train's line to force it to take that track.
In the line, waypoints and signals will all be designated as "Waypoint."


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Some uses for waypoints in a train's line include:
• Creating switchbacks in areas where there isn't room for a turn around loop.
• Forcing trains to take certain routes without the use of signals.
• Forcing trains to enter a specific track of a building or station.

Below are the basic rules that trains obey when approaching normal (→) signals. Chain signals also follow these rules in addition to extra rules unique to them.

Trains only care about signals that match their direction of travel:

• Trains only observe the state of the signal concurrent to its direction of travel; that is, the signal that the train looks at is the one that points in the direction it wants to go:
  
  Here a motor wagon checks the green normal signal pointing in its direction of travel and ignores the red normal signal pointing against its intended direction of travel.
  
  
• If there is no signal pointing in the direction of the train's travel (a one-way signal), then the train cannot pass it and will be forced to find a path around it.
  
  If no such path exists, then you will either get the error "First stop is unreachable from current vehicle position!" or the train will become confused when it cannot find a path to its next stop:
  
  A train approaching from the other direction could pass this signal.
  
  Note that a train also cannot use a signal as a waypoint unless their directions match.

If the directions of the signal and the train are concurrent (Train → Signal → Block), then the train will look at the signal's state to determine if it needs to stop. The state of a normal signal will depend on whether the block the signal points into is occupied.

• If the block the signal points into has a train in it, then the signal will turn red to indicate that the block ahead is occupied. By default, all trains will come to a stop, but there are exceptions to this rule that allow trains to ignore red signals (discussed in the Ignoring Red Signalsr section).
  
  
• If the block that signal points into is unoccupied, then the train will usually be able to continue without stopping. The only exceptions to this are when two-way track is involved, which is discussed in the Two Way Tracks - Yellow Signals section, and when chain signals are involved, which is discussed in the next section.

A chain signal (>>) is basically a normal signal that can also serve as a point for trains to stop at if the signals ahead are red. Chain signals are typically used to keep certain track junctions and crossings clear to keep traffic moving, or to prevent deadlocks in more complicated track layouts.


Chain Signals should be thought of as having three separate mechanics:

1. They have all the mechanics of Normal Signals.
   (This includes the yellow signal mechanic, but typically it is overridden.)
   
   
2. When a train approaches a chain signal, it will check the color of the next non-chain signal in its planned path, which if red will make the train stop at the chain signal.
   (Good for enabling more efficient layouts, but can subtly cause issues.)
   
   
3. Their color will change depending on the signals and trains ahead of them.
   (This really only matters for troubleshooting signal networks, if that.)

When a train approaches a chain signal, it will check the signals ahead in its path until it finds a normal signal. If this normal signal is red, then the train will wait at the chain signal until the normal signal turns green, upon which the chain signal is treated like a normal signal.

A common use for chain signals is to keep the junctions into and out of stations clear of waiting trains so that other trains can always leave the station:


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An important caveat to this mechanic is that trains cannot ignore the red signals they checked remotely from the chain signal (unless you use the "Ignore red signal" button). This is useful for preventing trains from waiting in intersections and thus blocking other trains from using it, but this can also cause deadlocks for no immediately apparent reason.

For example, here is a layout that causes trains to block themselves:


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This happens because the next chain signal points into the block the train is in, making it red, and the train sees this red signal in its path at the first chain signal and has to stop. In this case, it is pretty obvious what the issue is, but this will not always be so easy to see.

Whether a train stops at a chain signal or not is summed up by this logic:

1. Is there a train in the block that the chain signal points into?
   • If not, then proceed to 2.
     
   • If yes, then can it be ignored?
     (Is the train's path in the block occupied or reserved by another train?
     If not, it's ignorable.)
     • If the signal cannot be ignored, then the train stops at the chain signal.
       
     • If it can, then proceed to 2.
   
   
2. Is there another signal ahead in the train's intended path?
   • If yes, then proceed to 3.
     
   • If not, then the train need not stop.
   
   
3. What is the color of the next normal signal in the train's intended path?
   (If no such normal signal exists, then treat the last chain signal in its path as one.)
   • If the signal is red, then the train must stop.
     (This passed-back red signal cannot be ignored except with the "Ignore red signal" button.)
     
   • If the signal is not red, then proceed to 4.
   
   
4. Are there any red chain signals between this green normal signal and the chain signal in front of the train?
   • If yes, the train must stop.
     (This passed-back red signal also cannot be ignored except with the "Ignore red signal" button.)
     
   • If no, then the train need not stop.

A chain signal's color is unfortunately not very helpful for determining whether a train needs to stop due to the remote waiting feature they have; it is quite possible to make trains stop at green chain signals, which would be pretty confusing if you assumed that trains only considered the first signal in their path:


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That said, chain signals can still generate red signals that trains can see in lieu of normal signals, but this has nothing to do with being a chain signal; all signals will generate a red signal if a train is present in the block they point into, and this signal will remotely stop trains if they are at least two preceding chain signals away.


Typically the color of a chain signal is only useful for troubleshooting a network with trains stopping in strange locations, so knowing what causes their color can be useful.

The color of a chain signal depends on a couple factors:

1. Does the block that the chain signal points into have a train in it?
   • If yes, then the light will always be red.
     
   • If no, then the light's color will depend on the signals ahead.
   
   
2. Chain signal color is then determined by the signals ahead of it that both:
   1. Are outgoing signals that point out of the block that the chain signal points into, and
      
   2. Can be pathed to through the block, from the chain signal.

Finally, the color of the chain signal will depend on the mix of these ahead signals:

*Yellow signals depend more on track layout.

This can occur due to a discrepancy of two mechanics:

1. The color of a chain signal depends on the colors of the signals ahead in the block and whether there is a train in the block. In the consideration of chain signal colors, blue signals are interpreted as green.
   
2. The train stopped at the green chain signal wants to go through the blue signal and the red signal ahead of it. Since the chain signal copies the permission of the signals ahead in the train's path, the train sees a 'red' signal at the green chain signal.

Basically, the red signal is carried back to the green chain signal and stops the train, but the red color only makes it back to the first chain signal (the blue one), so the train stops at a green signal.

As an example, here a CME2 and its boxcar are sitting in the right track of the station where the blue T3M2 is told to go:

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Chain signal traps can also be created by accidentally combining multiple blocks into a single block by connecting two tracks with an 'x - crossing' track, the signals pointing into this block may report a red signal even though the paths into the block from the signal are not occupied by a train. When this signal color is carried back by a chain signal to other chain signals, you can create a chain signal trap where trains stop for no apparent reason.

An example of this can be found here.

Yellow lights are useful for increasing the throughput of two-way tracks, but you need to be careful when implementing it because it is not perfect.


Coal train waiting for two-way track to be clear.


When a train calculates a path to a destination that includes two-way track, the train will check to see if any other trains have already decided to path over the two-way track it wants to use. If it finds none, then it proceeds as normal, but if another train did path through the track, then it will go to the first block that has been "reserved" and wait at the signal before it until the train clears the block.

If multiple trains path through the same two-way track, then whichever train reaches the contested track first gets to use it first. All subsequent trains waiting at the yellow light will then go in order of who pathed through the track first, even if trains could immediately follow other trains for more throughput (it should be noted that two-way tracks are used to save money, resources, and time, not to increase throughput).

This makes it possible to operate multiple trains on the same two-way tracks for a somewhat better throughput, but there are two issues you need to be careful to avoid:

1. Do not operate more trains on a two-way track than can be held at both ends of it.

• Trains do not check if they will have a spot to wait in at the end of a two-way track without blocking other trains from getting out, so you will need to provide a place for all trains using the two-way track to wait at. This could be the tracks of a facility or a signaled rail yard made to hold them until space clears.
  
  .

2. Eventually trains will want to go to the same track in a station.

• Since trains will then be competing for the same spot, one will end up in it while the other will block the entrance, thus causing a deadlock:
  
  
  Note the empty track in the station that could have been used to avoid this problem.
  
  
• To fix this, you have four options:
  
  1. Allow only one train to go to a station via the two-way track.
  - This way it doesn't matter which track the train picks; one will always be open.
  - In case you were wondering "then why use the two-way signalling then for a single train?" You can branch multiple stations/facilities off of the same two-way track. This is to fix the station issue.
  
  2. Build extra waiting spots connected linearly together and to a station track.
  - This way all trains have to take the same path to the same track.
  - Usually the worst option, but not always.
  
  3. Include a signal before the track switch leading into the station.
  - Trains will path to the signal and from there decide which track to enter, which should be empty at that time.
  
  4. Assign each train to a specific track so that they won't fight over them (better option).
  - Done by entering the signals leading to a specific track into the train's line, just before the station:
  
  
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  This can be extended to waiting spots before the station too:
  
  
  .
  
  Crossings Without Crossovers are not Considered
  The yellow light mechanic will not always consider other tracks in a crossing without a crossover within the block (such a block looks like two tracks intersecting at an angle, like a + or an x, double track would look like ╬ or ╪), so you can end up in situations where trains wait in the crossing and block trains on other tracks from using it until they pass:
  
  .
  In this case you should use chain signals pointing into the block with the crossing to prevent trains waiting on the crossing. Mixed signals work well here, allowing the train to wait before the crossing.
  
  
  Merged One-Ways Seemingly Emulate Chain Signals (Untested!)
  When multiple one-way tracks feed into a single block in the same direction, trains seem to wait at the signal before the intersection as if there was a chain signal there. I don't think this is very useful, as it basically copies the function of a chain signal, but maybe somebody else can use it for something.
  
  I didn't test this yellow signal behavior much, as I was more interested in two-way track applications, so use it at your own risk.
  
  
  
  

Sometimes red and blue signals can be ignored by a train. When this happens, the red signal will start flashing red while its arrow color changes to white.


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There are only three cases where a train can ignore a red signal:

• The "Ignore red signal" button.
  
• When the next block is occupied by a train that isn't in the way.
  
• When the train is a metro train, it can also ignore red signals under specific conditions.

This button is found at the top right of a train's window and looks like a red signal.

When toggled, the train will proceed to the end of the segment it is currently on and then ignore the signal at the end of it, if there is one. Once it reaches the end of the segment (the node), the train will obey signals as usual.


All trains can ignore a red/blue signal so long as these conditions are met:

• The signal is red/blue because the block it points into has a train in it.
  
• The path of the train does not cross nor overlap other trains' paths in the block.
  
• If at chain signal, the next normal signal in its path must not be red.
  
• The train's next stop is not a signal that directly succeeds the red/blue signal.

There is a potential problem with doing this at track switches though; trains can take either track and have paths that don't overlap the paths of the other train, but they can still block the train by "collision." This can cause the following train to reverse back to a node, wasting fuel and possibly disrupting the network as it goes.

For example, at this loading facility the first train has cleared the node of the track switch but is still in the way of the train behind it. The second train proceeds, thinking that its path doesn't conflict with the first train, but "collides" with the first train and reverses:



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One way to fix this is to ensure trains do not sit on the branches of a track's switch for too long, which can be done by ensuring trains have enough track to wait at past the switch. For trains routed from Train Distribution Offices, this is the only option.

Another way to fix this is to place signals just after the switch and assign one to each of the trains' lines, which will force them to wait at the signal before the switch until the train clears a release signal placed after the switch. Unfortunately, this locks trains to a single track of a loading facility, which may cause trains to wait for an occupied track despite others being open.


Under certain conditions, a metro train can enter an occupied block even with its path being occupied by another train. This feature was added to enable multiple metro trains to operate in the same block, which was needed for underground metro systems as signals can not (currently) be placed on underground metro tunnels.

For brevity, some terms are defined:

• Metro block - a block with multiple metro trains operating within it.
  
• Origin block - a block from which metro trains enter a metro block.

Basically, a metro train can ignore red signals to enter an occupied block, even when its path is obstructed, provided it meets all these conditions:

1. The red signal to be ignored meets these conditions:
   • The signal is one-way and not a chain nor mixed signal.
     
   • The train wants to go in the direction of the signal (no going against signals).
   
   
2. The signals used to define the block the train wants to enter (the metro block) meets these conditions:
   • Only two signals used to define the metro block can be placed anywhere:
     • There is a signal for entering the block that meets the above conditions.
       
     • If desired, one other signal can be placed without any restriction and be any type.
       • If used as an entry into the metro block, this signal needs to meet the requirements of #1, or else it will prevent metro trains from entering when the block is occupied.
         
       • If used as an exit, the signal can be any type of semaphore.
   • Additional signals can be used to define the metro block, but they can only be placed between the metro block and the origin block (the metro block must loop back to the origin block).

There are a few important takeaways from these rules:

1. Metro blocks can serve as origin blocks too, which enables consecutive signals to be ignored. This requires the two free signals serve as the beginning and end of each metro block though, and all other spurs must loop back to origin blocks.
   
   
2. The block the train leaves (the origin block) when ignoring a signal can have as many connections as desired, which makes it a good place to congregate surface metro lines before routing them underground.
   
   
3. Because surface end-stations can also be used to define blocks (surface end-stations stop the spread of blocks; underground end-stations do not), you can use them to connect any number of tracks to the metro block and allow trains to move in and out of them.
   
   
4. Because an "additional signal" can be used to complete the loops of one-way metro tracks, one of the two base signals can be used to allow another track to merge or split off of the metro block.

See the Metro System chapter for some pointers on implementing these behaviors.

This is about as complex a metro and origin blocks as you can get and still use this behavior:
(remember that stations propagate blocks; you can put them anywhere within a block.)

This section discusses a few mechanics that influence blocks specifically.

Blocks are created by the placement of signals, but their boundaries will be defined by signals, track crossings, and the boundaries of some buildings.

Track crossings will merge blocks together, which will make planning signals for them more complicated. This combined with chain signals is probably the biggest source of railway related headaches.


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Most buildings allow blocks to spread past them, but a few will not:

• Metro Surface End-station (the underground variant allows block spread)
  
• Railway End-station
  
• All depots
  
• Railway Construction Office
  
• Tram Railway-Road Connection

Modded buildings will have to be checked on your own.

Using end-stations to stop the spread of a block is handy to provide extra entrances and exits to a "metro block" (where metro trains operate without signals, typically underground), which normally only allow one extra entrance/exit (typically the exit of the block) before the ability to ignore red signals is prohibited to metro trains.


To help differentiate blocks from one another, each block will have one of seven colors assigned to them which is only visible when a semaphore or waypoint is selected (this can be toggled off and on by pressing left Ctrl). These colors make it easier to see what semaphores make up a block and can tell you a little information about the makeup of the block.

Because these colors are just a highlight, planned tracks will make block colors appear much brighter due to the bright white color of planned track. Unfortunately, the green and orange color highlights will both appear as slightly different hues of yellow on planned tracks.

Contrary to popular belief, block colors do not indicate any signal or pathing issues that may occur with the block. Those issues will depend solely on your signal and train setup.


For blocks without junctions, their color will be blue. If connected to other such blocks, then their color may change to a slightly darker or lighter shade of blue. If connected in a string, these blocks will have alternating shades of blue.

For blocks with junctions, their color will usually be orange, but interconnecting multiple blocks with junctions to each will result in each block having a different color to differentiate the blocks.

Typically colors for junctions will be assigned in this order: Orange, Purple, Green, Cyan and then White; other colors may be possible, but I haven't seen them.

All the block colors can be seen here:

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Later colors are only assigned when junction blocks of the same color are connected to the same block. For example, with two junction blocks connected to each other, one will be orange and the other will be purple. With an orange block and a purple block connected to each other and a third block, the third block will be green. Cyan and white are seen when connected to all of the preceding colored blocks that are connected to their requisite colored blocks.

Remember, all the colors do is distinguish blocks from one another so you can tell what tracks a block covers at a glance; at most, all you could infer is how complicated/connected a track network is. There are no pathing issue warnings associated with block colors.

You can toggle block colors on and off by selecting a signal to place from the "Trains" menu and pressing "Ctrl."

There are currently five types of railway track:

• Wooden Tied - 70 km/hr
  
• Concrete Tied - 150 km/hr
  
• Electrified Track - 150 km/hr
  
• Metro Track - 100 km/hr
  
• Tram Roads - 80 km/hr*

*The fastest vanilla trams can only go 72 km/hr, but trucks and buses will also be limited to 80 km/hr.

Wooden tied track can be upgraded into concrete track, and both can be upgraded into electrified track, but nothing can be upgraded into metro track.

Railway bridges also have speed restrictions that vary by type.

Tracks have a few rules regarding their placement:

• Metro track and regular train track cannot cross each other.
  
• Metro track cannot be connected directly to an RCO.
  
• Tracks cannot be built at grades beyond 12 percent (12 m every 100 m).
  
• Tracks cannot be built across roads too close to a road intersection (for crossing lights).

The internal tracks in stations and buildings will automatically change to whatever track is attached to it at no resource cost. If different track types are connected to the same track in a building, the "higher tier" track will determine the building's track type.

Tram (and trolley bus) trafos will only share power to the road networks connected directly to them; they will not share power across other trafos. Road gates will also block power transmission (Apparently trams can pass through them, but not trolley buses.), so you will need trafos connected to the roads on both sides for trams to have power.

Railroad electric connections will may or may not block other railroad electric connections' power supply (honestly it changes every time I check), but power is only shared to tracks that are connected by a node; power will not be shared between the tracks in a building nor between tracks without a crossover.

Some buildings can block the transmission of power:

• RCOs
  
• Depots (all of them)
  
• Surface metro/train end stations.
  
• Tram railroad connection

The highest amount of power an electric vehicle network can consume at any time is the sum of all the power ratings of the vehicles on the network divided by two.

Different kinds of tracks permit only some rail vehicles to traverse them under their own power.
↔ - Passable
× - Impassable,

* includes diesel locomotives, motor wagons, and diesel trainsets.
** include electric locomotives and electric trainsets.

Note that these restrictions do not apply if the railway vehicle is being towed. For example, you could tow a metro train over wooden tied track, but only diesel locomotives could do the towing.



* Price of all required materials and workdays in March 1960 before buying anything and with no population. Delivery charges are not included, and you may see somewhat higher or lower prices depending on the amount of money you started with.

Upgrades from wooden tied tracks do not give a discount at all; you will spend the same amount of resources as if you were laying concrete tied or electrified track just on the ground.

The upgrade from a concrete tied track to an electrified track will only cost the material needed for the wiring phase, which comes out to 167 workdays, 24 tons of prefab panels, 24 tons of steel, and 5 tons of electrical components per km.

If you are wondering why you should ever build wooden tied tracks when they cost almost the same as concrete tied tracks but have less than half the speed limit, it is because the wood and boards industry is very cheap to setup and it needs very few workers:

• For less than 50k rubles, you can build a woodcutting post with three V3S trucks and a sawmill.
  
• You also only need 3 to 5 workers in the woodcutting post; any more is a waste of labor.
  The sawmill only needs about 2 workers per woodcutting post for a total of 5 to 7 workers for this entire lumber industry.
  
• Making your own boards from scratch reduces the price of wooden tied tracks by about 900 to 1,300 rubles a km, which is somewhat small savings; however, compared to buying prefab panels for concrete tied track, you'll be saving about 3,000 to 3,500 rubles per km, which is pretty good savings, especially early on.

You might also use this to set up a railway far away from the border, as boards and gravel can be cheaply made locally, which means you only have to bring steel in to build rails.

There are also quite a few trains and motor wagons early on that cannot really make use of the extra speed concrete tied tracks provide, so you might as well use wooden tied track for those vehicles and save some money/resources.

In the late game, wooden track is still useful for reducing fuel lost to acceleration on short tracks where trains burn fuel getting up to their speed limit only to brake all speed away.

In addition to signals, rail vehicles also follow quite a few other rules.


Rules for assembling a train:

• All of the rail vehicles you want joined into a train must be in the same building.
  (Locomotives cannot pull a rail vehicle over a factory connection for the purpose of towing them.)
  
  
• Train lengths cannot exceed the length of the building they are assembled in.
  • This can make even a moderate amount of rail vehicles require several trips to tow from a customs house.
  
  
• Trains are automatically assembled and disassembled in the train distribution office and anywhere else you tell a locomotive to load/unload rail vehicles from and/or to.
  • Wagons can be towed into and out of RDOs as well.
  
  
• You can manually assemble trains inside of depots, but there are restrictions:
  (Note that these restrictions only apply to trains you manually put together in a depot.)
  • Electric and diesel locomotives cannot be joined into the same train.
    
  • Passenger vehicles and cargo wagons cannot be joined into the same train.
    
  • Track builders cannot be in a train.

Railway vehicles can moved as a cargo in two ways:

• Towing - A locomotive can create a train out of any combination of railway vehicles types.
  • A train's maximum length depends on the "Station length" of the building the locomotive is drawing vehicles from.
    
  • Towed vehicles ignore track restrictions, but they cannot be pushed nor pulled over factory connections. This means all vehicles to be towed must be un/loaded in the same building as the locomotive.
    
  • Normally only 'new' vehicles can be towed, but old wagons can be towed from the RDO to other RDOs or to depots.
    
  • Towing railway vehicles into a train depot will change their "new" status to "old."
  Factories also cannot push railway vehicles over factory connections into storage spaces.
  
  
• Carried - Some small rail vehicles can be carried on flatbed wagons:
  • Unlike towed vehicles, carried vehicles can be pushed and pulled over factory connections.
    
  • Trams make up the most of these vehicles, but a few others can also be carried.
    
  • If a train enters a train depot while its flatbed wagons have a vehicle on them, the vehicles will not be unloaded from the train into the depot. Only towed vehicles will be dumped into the train depot.
  Larger railway vehicles can be carried on ships like the Ighnatov, which is convenient for getting them from beyond the borders to railway networks anywhere near bodies of water. Keep in mind that you do not need an expensive Container harbor for this; a large space for vehicles and containers connected with a factory connection to a small cargo harbor will work just fine.

On top of the regular rules for factory connections and vehicles/containers, rail vehicles behave a little differently:

• Locomotives cannot pull a rail vehicle over a factory connection for the purpose of towing it.
  
• Factories also cannot push rail vehicles over factory connections to vehicle storage spaces.
  
• Rail vehicles can be pulled/pushed over factory connections to be carried by other vehicles or to be unloaded from a carrying vehicle (carrier to carrier transfers of vehicles is still not allowed).

Each wagon is considered a separate vehicle when it comes to loading and unloading. Since the un/loading factors are split equally amongst vehicles un/loading at the same facility, this is typically irrelevant except for three cases:

• Vehicles and containers - Un/loading factors are not split for the un/loading of vehicles and containers, which means that each wagon in a train is un/loaded simultaneously. This makes trains load and unload vehicles and containers very quickly compared to other vehicles like ships.
  
  
• Unlike everything else, trains can simultaneously carry every type of good (aggregates, vehicles/containers, and everything else). This is accomplished by a mix of different wagon types and by manually setting the "advanced settings" of each wagon to accept the desired good for either vehicles/containers or open hull goods.
  
  Trains still cannot mix cargo and passengers though.
  
  
• Wagons that sit outside of an un/loading facility do not get faster un/loading speeds from the facility's un/loading factor.

A train's length affects four mechanics:

• A train's length is limited to the building it is assembled in, including towed units.
  (Trains do not need to be shorter than the building to enter or be disassembled there.)
  
  For some railway vehicles, this will prevent them from being towed if the building is too short.
  (Metro trains at the large customs house may be stuck there if you cannot get a short enough locomotive to tow them from there.)
  
  
• Trains can also only be purchased or created in buildings that are longer than they are.
  (This prevents a lot of rail vehicles from being bought at the medium customs house)
  
  
• Trains whose length is longer than the station length of a building cannot enter its vehicle storage space.
  (This means they cannot enter the large scrapping facility to be scrapped, or they cannot enter the large space for vehicles to be moved by ships or towed by locomotives).
  • End stations, depots, and RCOs are exceptions, trains of any length can enter them.
  
  
• Trains that are too long to fit inside a building do not use the station's un/loading factors for un/loading the wagons that lay outside.

You can find the train's rounded length in its menu and a more accurate length in the List of vehicles and buildings.


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You can find the length of a building by looking at its pop up in the building selection menu; it will be displayed next to "Station Length."

The customs houses lengths can be found through cheats:

• Medium Customs House: 50m
  
• Large Customs House: 115m

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Train end stations can be found under the depot tab in the "Trains" menu.

End Stations are auxiliary buildings that trains can enter like a depot with the following functions:
• Acts as a storage or buffer for active rail vehicles.
• Sets time intervals between vehicles that stop at it.
• Refuels only trains whose line includes a stop there (requires power).
• Act as a turn around point (useful for underground metros).
• Serve as a place for trains to get repaired without leaving service (needs a nearby garage).

Surface train/metro end stations also have the following properties:
• Stops block propagation.
• Stops power transfer (electric power is not shared between tracks connected to it).
• Stops train passage, unless they make a stop there per their line.
• Blocks track builders from reaching track under construction.

Finally, all train/metro end stations will only send out a train if there is a signal in its path. Without a signal on the track the trains want to take, the trains will just sit inside the end station forever.

End Stations can hold fuel, but unlike train gas stations you cannot unload fuel from a train into it nor can you load fuel from it.

The primary function of an end station is to space out your trains, which it accomplishes by sending out a train every now and then, while always accepting trains to enter. This time interval is determined by the "Time gap mode" you choose for the end station, which has two options:

• Variable time - This setting calculates the time based on the distance of the line, similar to line spacing, but trains will not slow down. You can assign multiple end stations to the same line, but I am unsure how they interact.
  
  
• Fixed time - this setting simply sends out a train once per interval of time, which you can set between 1 and 600 seconds. This is good for ensuring the next stop is visited consistently so that citizens are picked up regularly, and the time setting can be used to fine tune a line's throughput.

Realistic mode disables buying vehicles at depots and workplaces, which means you have to figure out how to get track builders, trams, and metro trains to their networks. A few solutions are discussed here.

Do not check "wait until loaded" for loading vehicles at the customs house, or vehicles will simply not load any vehicles there.

A common beginner question is "how do I get a track builder to an RCO when there is no track connecting it to the customs house?"

The only solution currently is to buy a "disassembled" track builder from the eastern customs/borders and transport it by truck to the RCO using a big enough truck (typically the Skd 706 RTTN truck):

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Ensure that you don't buy an "assembled" track builder on accident.

You can also use cargo helicopters or ships to transport this disassembled track builder to remote areas, but the last part of the delivery must be done by a truck to the RCO, which will thus require at least a small space for vehicles to transfer the disassembled track builder into before another vehicle can load it (carrier to carrier transfer of vehicles is not allowed).


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Most trams can simply be carried by a truck from the customs house to a tram depot, similar to transporting disassembled track builders to RCOs, but some trams are too large to be carried by a truck and so must make their own way to the tram network.

For large trams like the KT8D5 or the LM68M, you will need a "Tram railroad connection" between the tram network and an electrified railway track leading to a customs house, a train depot, or a large space for vehicles/containers. The basic idea is to do something similar to these methods:

• Buy the tram at a customs house and send it along an electrified track to the tram depot, and then assign it to a line on the tram network.
  
  
• Buy the tram at a customs house, use a diesel locomotive to tow it to the train depot, and then reassign the tram to the tram depot where you can assign it to a line on the tram network.
  
  
• Buy the tram from beyond the borders, use a ship to transport it to a cargo harbor connected to a large space for vehicles, and then reassign the tram to the tram depot where you can assign it to a line on the tram network.

Keep in mind that the 'Tram railroad connection' does not transmit power across itself; each side will need its own power connection.

Metro cars can only travel on their own on metro tracks, but nothing else can travel on metro tracks except for track builders, and no land vehicle can carry a metro train.

This leaves only one real option to get metro trains to metro networks; you have to connect a train depot to both the metro network with metro track and to a train network with regular train track. Then you have to tow a metro train from a customs, a factory, or some storage space to this train depot, where you can then assign the metro train to stops in the metro network.

Trains cannot be longer than the "station length" of whatever building they are being formed in, which can prevent longer individual railway vehicles from being towed out of small buildings (like the medium customs houses), especially if being towed by a long locomotive.

This can be especially troublesome for trainsets and metro units, as they are typically quite long due to being made up of multiple cars. You might be able to get away with using the new "pig" locomotives though.

Ships present an interesting alternative to the customs house; instead of having to build a track to the border to get bigger trains, you could build a track to a harbor that you ship heavy trains to (including the largest track builder). This effectively allows you start a train network near any shore with access to the eastern "beyond the borders."

The main downside is the cost; not from having to build a container harbor (you won't need it here), but for building a small cargo harbor, a large space for vehicles, a small dock, and finally buying a ship (typically the Ighnatov). You will likely have to spend at least ~300,000 rubles on all that.

To make this work, you will need to do a couple things:

• A harbor that can handle vehicles.
  • This can be a container harbor (not recommended), or a small cargo harbor connected to a large space for vehicles with a factory connection road (much cheaper.)
  • Ensure the eastern "beyond the borders" is accessible from wherever you build this harbor.
  
  
• A way to connect the container harbor or the large space for vehicles to an RCO or train depot.
  • If you have an existing train network then you can get a track builder from it to connect it.
  • Otherwise you will need a disassembled track builder and an RCO nearby to build the track.
  • This is required so you can tow wagons and metro trains into a depot.

Place holder for a future section.

Track builders with more "speed/level" can build more track per trip and allow more workers to work on the track's construction; this is why most players prefer the EDK 300 for building railways, but track builders cannot take more material to a track under construction than there is in the RCO's storages; to maximize the amount of track they can lay each trip, try to keep your RCO full of steel, prefabs/boards, and gravel.

Having more track builders, even if they are not being used, will increase the number of job slots at the RCO, which can be an easy way to ensure that the active track builder is always full of workers.

Track builders can now reverse at nodes to build tracks that would otherwise be inaccessible from the RCO, but only if there is enough track between the node and the switch to other tracks. You can use the tool for measurement and track waypoints to make a node at the right place for this to work without making the track builder go all the way to the next node.

Building faster:

• Break up track segments into smaller pieces by placing way points. This allows track builders to keep moving quickly to the end of a long track under construction rather than slowing to 25 km/hr.
  
  Track builders are limited to 25 km/hr on track segments under construction, unless they are leaving the segment, but they have to reach the end of the laid track to continue working. so break up the long tracks you want constructed with nodes (waypoints work well for this)
  
  This can even be done for tracks already under construction, where the new segments will inherent the completion or in-progress status of the parts they were divided from (including finished track).
  
  
• You can press Ctrl-h to teleport the track builder back home, which frees up track for other track builders to leave the RCO sooner (or the same one).
  
  
• If you don't baby sit your track builders, or you feel teleporting them is cheesy, then you can build passing sidings to allow the RCO to send out track builders sooner (don't need to wait for the old one to clear the track).
  
  
• When building electrified track, it is faster to complete a concrete tied track first and upgrade it to electrified track rather than to just build an electrified track outright.
  
  
• If you want to make a rail yard of multiple parallel tracks for trains to wait at, you could use one of the large train cargo stations instead of the track. Not only does this allow you to quickly build all the track faster (as one building and with CO vehicles), but it also costs less material. The only downside is that you now have to provide fire coverage and maintenance for this track, and if the station is destroyed, trains may lose access to the other sides of the station.
  
  
• Finally, you can build multiple RCOs along the track you want completed. Try to divide long tracks into segments and place the RCO in the middle of those segments so that it can send out two track builders at a time.

This is a trick for maximizing the throughput of trains un/loading in buildings/stations with multiple tracks, such as the train aggregate loading facility or the steel mill.

Because the un/loading rate of a building is split between all the vehicles in it, there isn't much point in keeping more than one train inside a building, so the main bottleneck of a building's throughput will be how quickly trains can get in and out. Wagons which lay outside of the un/loading facility also do not get the un/loading speed bonuses of the facility, so minimizing train length is also important for maximizing train un/loading times.

With the block system, most trains have to wait for a block to be empty before they can enter it, which means un/loading facilities will often be idle as one train must completely leave the block before another train can start entering. For un/loading facilities with two tracks however, this trick is an option to make a train start entering soon after the other train starts leaving, which will give the best average rate of un/loading for the building over time.

Depending on the train's locomotive and weight, the next train may even start loading before the first train fully leaves the building:

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Essentially this trick is based off of the mechanic where a train can ignore red signals so long as their entire path in the block ahead is clear. The idea is to block the path of the second train with the first train that is un/loading goods, which is done by making the first train extend past its track and 'overhang' onto the path of the first train.

When the first train is done un/loading, it only needs to go a short distance to clear the switch node and thus also clear the path of the second train, which allows it to ignore the signal and start entering the other track right away instead of waiting for the first train to clear the entire block.

The basic requirements for this trick are:

• The building must have two or more tracks.
  
• Both tracks must be connected by a switch.
  
• Both tracks will need a one-way signal before the building (otherwise the yellow light signal behavior will trigger, and trains will not wait at the light right behind the first train).
  
• The trains need to be long enough to hang past the switch node; otherwise, the next train will ignore the signal before the switch.
  
• There must be a one-way signal before the switch. This may need to be moved back so that the preceding train does not also hang past it.

The setup for this track should look something like this:

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1) The end of the first train must hang out before the branching node; this is because trains will not consider a train to be in their path if it is not on the segment the trains want to take, and so these trains will not stop and wait for the train to finish loading and get out of the way. This will likely also cause a "collision" where the next train will bump into the first train and become confused and go back and forth on the track.

..

2) You will require longer trains than the length of the building, which may mean that you will require the large train depot to assemble trains that are long enough. This may also mean that the vanilla train distribution office is too small for some buildings (most vanilla buildings are short enough though).

You can also use longer trains than this minimum length, but keep in mind that wagons that lay outside of the building do not enjoy its loading nor unloading speed bonuses, and it will take longer for the next train's path to clear, which will reduce the building's throughput.

This section is a bit outdated now. I will rewrite it when I get the time, but a lot of it is still good to know.

You can now specify which vehicle will be loaded and unloaded now, whether by model or by contents, so making mixed consists is a lot easier, but there are still some limitations:
• You can load different types of wagons, but there is no way to control how many are grabbed.
• There is still no way to control how long a train is; the length of the building (RDO) determines this.

I would recommend grabbing a set of mods with short RDOs and a long RDO.

• You would have the long main line train unload specific wagons at the smaller RDO and grab specific wagons that have been filled or whatever makes them different from returning wagons at the large RDO and then go back to the main line.
  
• Meanwhile, branch locomotives would grab the specific wagons for their branch lines from the small RDO, process them, and then return them to the large RDO.
  
• Make sure both the large and small RDOs have more than one track so a mainline and branch locomotives can access it at the same time.

I recommend this mod in particular for its four-track "short" RDO, which allows you to have three branch locomotives waiting to take specific wagons along with a keeping a spare track clear for a mainline locomotive to enter and ditch its wagons at:
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2790495221

Because locomotives can tow used wagons into and out of train distribution offices (RDO), you can somewhat emulate shunting yards and rail yards, but since there is no way to sort wagons by content or type, it is not possible to fully emulate rail yards and consists of varying types of wagons.

For the readers who do not speak train, this feature lets one locomotive take wagons, fill or empty them nearby, and return them, while another locomotive hauls the wagons far away and brings back them back, but due to the inability to sort wagons by type or cargo, this feature is usually limited to just one type of cargo and wagon.


The advantage of this feature is that each task (handling the wagons & long distance hauling) can have the locomotives, train length, and track most suited for it. You might have an electric locomotive quickly loading wagons, while a diesel locomotive makes the long distance haul over a much cheaper non-electrified track.

The downsides of this feature are that more infrastructure needs to be built, including at least two train distribution offices, and that a lot of space is needed.


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To make this work, you need to set up two train distribution offices, one for empty wagons and one for full wagons. You must be careful not to mix up the two RDOs in your locomotives' lines, so renaming them is recommended.

Then you will need at least two locomotives. One will be filling or emptying the wagons (the shunting locomotive), while the other will be hauling them off and returning them to the area (the main line locomotive). Both locomotives will need access to both RDOs.

The main line locomotive should have a line like this:

1. Incoming yard: Unload, wait until unloaded
   (get rid of wagons to be handled by the shunting locomotive)
   
2. Outgoing yard: Load, wait until loaded (attach wagons)
   
3. Distant facility: Un/load, wait until un/loaded.

Alternatively, you could replace the last stop with another pair of train distribution offices.

The shunting locomotive's line should look like this:

1. Incoming yard: Load, wait until loaded (attach wagons)
   
2. Un/loading facility: Un/load, wait until un/loaded. (fill or empty the wagons)
   
3. Outgoing yard: Unload, wait until unloaded.
   (place wagons for main line locomotive to haul away).

You don't necessarily need to use the 'wait until un/loaded' feature, but that runs the risk of letting full and/or empty wagons go where they shouldn't be if you don't use it at the incoming yard or the un/loading facility (some cars may not be filled/emptied and yet make it to the outgoing yard).

Keep in mind that train size depends on the size of the building in which it was assembled; the destination has no influence on the train's length. You can use a large yard for the outgoing wagons and a small one for the incoming wagons, so that main line trains can be long for efficient hauling, while shunting locomotives only haul short trains optimal for un/loading throughput (some of the modded RDOs are quite long for this purpose.)

You can, but it is quite limited because you will have to work around some problems:

• Wagons cannot be sorted by their type nor content.
  This means all wagons will have to visit every location (loading and unloading).
  
  For unloading wagons, this is tolerable if the goods are all going to the same unloading facility or the same customs house or harbor for export, but multiple destinations who consume different goods will force a train to either carry all the wagons to all of these stops, or to unload all the wagons at an unloading facility and have other trains or vehicles distribute them instead.
  
  For loading wagons, this is tolerable so long as there is only one type of wagon or only one stop (or set of nearby stops) to load from. Having multiple wagon types and multiple branches from the RDO to loading points will result in trains carrying the wrong type of wagon to a loading stop, wasting fuel and making the throughput lower and unpredictable, or require the same train to visit all the stops, which has similar problems.
  
  
• Trains with aggregate or tanker (liquid) wagons from RDOs cannot load unequal amounts of goods. This is because "advanced settings" is not available for RDO wagons (these settings are forgotten once attached to a locomotive), because aggregate and liquid trains start loading each wagon simultaneously, and because different types of aggregates and liquids cannot be stored simultaneously in the same storage space (vehicle or building).
  
  Trains with wagons from RDOs can still load different types of aggregates or liquids, but their capacity split into as equal parts as possible for each type of aggregate/liquid (regardless of the amounts present), and then each type of aggregate/liquid must be loaded simultaneously at the same loading facility.

A metro system can transport absurd amounts of people, but they also have a lot of obfuscated rules. This section will explain the more unclear mechanics associated with them.

Metro trains behave identically to other trains in terms of pathing, but they have some extra rules:

• Metro trains can ignore red signals in more cases (see the Ignoring Red Signals section for more info on that).
  
  
• Metro tunnels cannot have signals in them. Even if you place tunnels in segments to create nodes, you still cannot place signals on them as you can with normal train tunnels.
  
  
• Most metro buildings have one-way entrances and exits. Basically, metro trains can only enter metro stations and underground buildings by the designation pointing into the building, and they can leave through either end.
  
  The one-way designation at the exit can be treated like a one-way signal. Trains can approach it from a concurrent direction (entering the station from the other end), but they cannot pass against it (enter the metro station against the one-way designation.) Metro trains can pass against the one-way designation pointing into the station though, so you can have metro trains enter a station and leave it by the same track.
  
  
• Track builders will ignore the direction designations and they can traverse metro track when on a building task, but they cannot pass through surface metro/train end stations.

Some common problems beginners run into when building metros:

• Do not mirror (with the 't' key) metro buildings, as this also flips the directions of the track connections. If you connect two connections point to point (like so: → ←) metro trains will become confused for seemingly no reason.
  (The option to mirror metro stations was removed in an update, but mods may still be mirrored.)
  
  You can check if you accidentally flipped a metro building by selecting a metro track, which will display the track connections.
  https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2944195518
  .
  As of v0.8.9.18, you can no longer flip metro stations.
  
  
• Surface metro end stations will block power transfer and trains cannot path through them without a stop in their line. They will also prevent track builders from building track on the other side.
  
  Subsurface end stations do not block power nor passage.
  
  
• Don't bother building an underground metro system before 1968, as there will not be any tunneling boring machines available until then; you would have to use citizen labor to dig the tunnels. You will also be limited to using western metro trains until 1968 too.
  
  
• Be wary of using signals along the approach to an underground metro. If the requirements for metros to skip red signals are not met, then you may only have one metro train allowed inside the entire underground network. End stations can prevent this, but it isn't guaranteed.
  
  A method that always works is to place a train depot before the entry into the underground with no signals at all. This will require a separate route to give access to an RCO to build the metro, but since the RCO also stops block propagation (from signals), you can connect it to both sides of the train depot with no issues.

• Giving track builders access to the metro system.
  You need to connect the metro system to an RCO for track builders to actually build the metro. Metro track also cannot be directly connected to an RCO; you must place regular track between them.
  
  
  One-way semaphores can confuse RCOs. Try to avoid placing them near the entrance to metro construction jobs for the RCOs or track builders may not be able to find a path to job sites or back to the RCO.
  
  
• Getting metro trains to the metro - The Realistic Mode - Vehicle Deliveries sections describes this, but generally speaking, the only option is to tow a metro train to a train depot that is connected with metro track to the metro system.
  
  
• Metro trains can only enter stations from one way (track builders ignore this).
  While metro trains can leave stations from any direction, they can only enter from one direction. This is fine for the station at the end of a line, but to enter or pass through other stations, the metro train will need specific areas to transfer to the other track. There are four options for this:
  • End stations - Place at the end of a line where you want the metro train to reverse directions.
    (Note that surface end stations will block power transfer!)
    
    
  • Loops - Basically connect the ends of a station together with a single track.
    
    
  • Surface switch - You can use signals to control access to the end station and route metro trains to the other track when going to other stations, but this will limit underground blocks to one metro train regardless of the block size.
    
    
  • Switchbacks - Switchbacks can be used on the surface with metros, but care should exercised as the metro trains' line logic can break if it approaches the switch back while it is occupied by another train. Only use these switchbacks with semaphore signals or with end stations providing frequency control for a metro line that also doesn't share stations with other lines.
    
    Ensure there is enough space for the metro train between the switch and the waypoint or it will get stuck. To make use of the switchback, add the waypoint to the metro train's line in between the end station and the next station you want it to visit.

Personal Cars Guide
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2840936507

Electrical Guide
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2827443475

Ship, Aircraft, and Container Reference
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3146397536

Water Management Guide
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2973142931

These mods utilizes RDOs to emulate a shunting yard, and allows you to somewhat optimize engine use.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2789320354
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2790495221

This mod has RDOs of numerous train lengths. Great for assembling consists.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2884961295

This mod allows for a small RDO to act as industry siding.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2790500615

This mod has some smaller aggregate unloading facilities.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1955947933

These mods add some more stations with different pedestrian connections:
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2913255288

This mod has stations with different layouts, including ones with more than four tracks.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2908856876