Railroad Stations

[Mr. Analog]

Yep, it's funny there's a whole world of things you gotta know about block conductivity and how to turn on / shut off redstone

Making it go up is easy, making it go down is a pain in the butt.

I wish they had fencepost like conduits for running redstone dust up and down things...

Also, note blocks make different sounds based on what they're sitting on top of!

[Lazybones]

Also, note blocks make different sounds based on what they're sitting on top of!

And don't work AT ALL if anything is on top of them..

[Lazybones]

Thorin let me know if you like that platform, if you do I will integrate a level rider detector and hide a pez dispener underground under a little wood utility shack so it fits the theme. It is going to require more surface area than my current underground stations so I hope there arn't conflicting buildings around your existing stations.

Also based on your feedback I have updated Beach and Biome stations with a slab block to make it easier to get in and out of carts there.

[Tom]

I was trying to play with a piston based station last night, but realized quickly that I'd need a D flip-flop to get the pistons delayed properly, and in the right order... When going in one direction one piston needs to retract slightly before the next, and the opposite needs to happen going in the other direction. Its a bit of a pain in the rear. Also I'd likely need a latch in there to be able to use a button. All that together takes up a crap load of space. Course so does my current hacked up station, so who knows.

[Lazybones]

I was trying to play with a piston based station last night, but realized quickly that I'd need a D flip-flop to get the pistons delayed properly, and in the right order... When going in one direction one piston needs to retract slightly before the next, and the opposite needs to happen going in the other direction. Its a bit of a pain in the rear. Also I'd likely need a latch in there to be able to use a button. All that together takes up a crap load of space. Course so does my current hacked up station, so who knows.

That is exactly what I found, the flip flops take up massive space and are annoying to try and wire in if you are hiding them.

hence the simplified track jumper I illustrated above..

Multi direction travel can still be added by having a switch that turns you around as you leave the station.

[Thorin]

Yep, it's funny there's a whole world of things you gotta know about block conductivity and how to turn on / shut off redstone

Making it go up is easy, making it go down is a pain in the butt.

I wish they had fencepost like conduits for running redstone dust up and down things...

Well, you can do the spiral staircase?  Still not as nice as having the wire just go straight up, though, I agree.

Thorin let me know if you like that platform, if you do I will integrate a level rider detector and hide a pez dispener underground under a little wood utility shack so it fits the theme. It is going to require more surface area than my current underground stations so I hope there arn't conflicting buildings around your existing stations.

Also based on your feedback I have updated Beach and Biome stations with a slab block to make it easier to get in and out of carts there.

Slabs - thank you.  Even yesterday when I went to check out Tom's railway, I had to go chase carts that took off when I got out.  It was either that or leave them on the track for others to run into.

Platform - I'm working on something similar but with a pistoned block on either side of the cart so that it gets trapped.  Today while waiting for my son's schoolbus I realized I could set it up for the cart to leave the station after a second or two using repeaters.  Thus the cart would stop at the station, wait for a bit, then leave again.  With an empty cart detector and a pez dispenser, one could then continuously ride without ever clicking a button!

Anyway, I'm going to play with the idea a bit more, but I'm really interested in your level empty cart detector.

And no, I've got lots of space for my station

[Mr. Analog]

Going up with redstone is EASY going down is freaking hard (stepped spiral with room for repeaters)

It's also slower going down than up.

[Lazybones]

Anyway, I'm going to play with the idea a bit more, but I'm really interested in your level empty cart detector.

Well if you want to work on your own I will go back to my other BIG project.... was just taking a break from the tedius bits of that one..

here is the link to the video about detectors again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae29zWoY-uo

3:00 - Flat Timing based detector
5:05 - Track jumping detector

7:30 - example station but not flat

[Mr. Analog]

Also here is an ESSENTIAL wiki page.

Redstone circuits:
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Redstone_Circuits

it looks confusing at first but when you try a few in creative, well your torch will light up is what I'm saying.

[Lazybones]

Also here is an ESSENTIAL wiki page.

Redstone circuits:
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Redstone_Circuits

it looks confusing at first but when you try a few in creative, well your torch will light up is what I'm saying.

There is also the sticky's in this thread http://www.minecraftforum.net/forum/67-redstone-discussion-and-mechanisms/

[Thorin]

01: To start, two sets of opposed pistons.  The ones on the tpo are what stop the cart when it comes in.  The ones on the bottom are what push the block behind the cart when it's time to go.  The right pistons push the blocks into place, the left pistons push the rails into place.

02: Adding a detector rail and some redstone wire to activate the pistons that fire when the cart arrives to push the blocks into place.  Notice the powered rail after the detector rail, to ensure the cart is going fast enough to get between the moving blocks.

Notice also the three repeaters delaying the signal to the bottom right piston.  This ensures the cart gets in the middle before it closes.

Damn chicken, photobombing.

03: I used a redstone torch to show the circuitry and the pistons extending.  And there's the damn chicken again.

04, 05, 06, 07: Kinda hard to show, but it's redstone wire leading to the left from the detector rail, which leads to five repeaters delaying the signal.  These repeaters go deep under the left pistons, just to keep them out of the way and make this more compact.

The redstone wire then comes back out of the ground and goes to three spots: the top left piston, the bottom left piston, and the powered rail in the middle where the cart will be sitting.

08: Powered up the left side with a redstone torch to show the circuitry there.  Also covered a few spots that could be covered.

09: Added some rails in a loop to see if this indeed works.

Next post, action shots!

[Thorin]

10: Cart coming around (it's on the right side of the picture).

11: Cart getting stopped by the head block.

12: Cart getting boxed in by the tail block.

13: Head block moving out of the way.

14: Cart launching, using tail block.

15. Tail block moving out of the way.

Tada!  Continuous entry/exit station using pistons and some easy wiring.

Put in a empty cart detector past the station with a side track for empty carts that leads to a pez dispenser (add that, too), then have the carts from the pez dispenser come into the station same as full carts.

Oh, and it's way easier to do this stuff in Creative mode on a super-flat world   It'll be interesting to see how it translates to Usamot.

[Thorin]

Also here is an ESSENTIAL wiki page.

Redstone circuits:
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Redstone_Circuits

it looks confusing at first but when you try a few in creative, well your torch will light up is what I'm saying.

There is also the sticky's in this thread http://www.minecraftforum.net/forum/67-redstone-discussion-and-mechanisms/

For me, this stickied thread was invaluable: http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/544827-redstone-guide-v121/

[Lazybones]

Oh, and it's way easier to do this stuff in Creative mode on a super-flat world   It'll be interesting to see how it translates to Usamot.

That when sand, gravel, lava, water and cave suddenly appear where you don't want them. O ya, you have to make space to jump and walk when building and your pick will break on you as you try to fix stuff and run out of resources.

[Thorin]

Anyway, I'm going to play with the idea a bit more, but I'm really interested in your level empty cart detector.

Well if you want to work on your own I will go back to my other BIG project.... was just taking a break from the tedius bits of that one..

here is the link to the video about detectors again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae29zWoY-uo

3:00 - Flat Timing based detector
5:05 - Track jumping detector

7:30 - example station but not flat

Thanks for all the help and suggestions, Lazy.  I think I'm going in the right direction now

By the way, I got stuck in that stone brick square you have built in the water...  I put my cart on the rails and hit go, and a minute later I was WTF!