Train

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  To form a train place locomotives and wagons on the track
  Vehicle/Train: If you want to transport items, place a locomotive and wagon or a second loco close to each other on the track. You will see, when they connect!
• Vehicles/Train/Locomotive: A train needs a locomotive at minimum. This makes sense, if you use the loco as personal transport, which is useful in later game.
  • Vehicle/Train/Refueling: Trains need Fuel to run. See basics, how to fill it into the locomotive. However, when setting up an automatic transport schedule, keep in mind that the locomotive will need fuel. Setup inserters to refuel your locomotives while loading/unloading the Vehicle/Train. Under normal circumstances it is enough to refuel the train at the central station only or eventually better at a point, where coal resources are near. They don't need much coal and the buffer in the train is with three stacks big enough to drive a very long distance.
  • Vehicle/Train/Locomotive at both ends: In automatic mode a train can run only in the direction of the loco, this makes problems when you have only a single track, because the train cannot turn. And manually driving backwards is much slower than forward. To avoid this, it is possible to attach a locomotive on both ends of a train allowing it to move both directions automatically without turning. Take care, that the locomotives look into opposite directions.
• Vehicle/Train/Wagon: A wagon is like a rolling chest, but the inserters can grep into it from a farer distance.
• Vehicle/Train/Coupling and decoupling: You can couple disconnected parts of trains, wagons or locomotive by driving slowly to the wagon/loco you want to connect while pressing "G". "V" decouples the last wagon/loco.
• Vehicle/Train/Driving: When you enter a train (press Enter-Key to enter), you can drive it.
  • turn automatic mode off!
  • move with the same keys as walking: press up (Q) moves forward, (S) backward.
  • to stop the train press the opposite direction until it stops. To drive into the other direction press it again.
  • before switches press left (A) or right (D) or nothing to choose the wanted direction.
  • it is recommended to drive slow at switches! or before dead ends! because crashing into the end of a track can destroy wagons.
  • when you have already some trains running in automatic mode, then it is recommended to drive also by automatic. This avoids crashing into other trains.
• Vehicle/Train/Defence: As trains are a priority target of Enemies, any place, where trains can stop should be (more or less) defended. This is of course more important at train stops.
• Vehicle/Train/Repair: Like refueling, try to put a Robotic network with Construction robots and some Repair packs at a train station, so that any eventual damage is repaired.
• Railway network/Do not cross the tracks: A train is very fast and it might happen, that you cross the track and a train comes and drives you dead. So be carefully with crossing. This is also true for any other entity. Especially the natives, which try to destroy standing trains easily, they don't have a chance against a driving train.
• Railway network/Train make-up: 1, 2, 3 or more wagons? No matter how long, it's a good idea to make all trains for the same route the same length. The optimal length depends on the distance, the train has to drive and the transported amounts. Quick calculation: You can transport with one wagon about 1000 resources and you need normally about 30 second to fully load/unload that and in the optimal case with 6 inserters on both sides you can do it in 10-15 seconds. The layout of your Railway network/Train station needs to fit to that requirements.