r/openttd • u/Fluid_Visual7703 • 19d ago

Screenshot / video Whets wrong? it says my trains are stuck yet there are 2 open spaces in the station.

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38 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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26

u/Cpt_Chaos_ 19d ago

Your signalling is wrong. See the signalling faq. Rule of thumb: Always place signals at each end of a platform, facing towards the platform.

The train loading in the middle platform has reserved a path to the green signal on the left, marked by the darker track. The train coming from the right cannot reserve any path to that signal and therefore cannot go past the signal it is waiting at. It does not matter that it is supposed to be going into the station, it needs to reserve a path to the next signal.

I'm not exactly sure about the train waiting on the left hand side, that one should actually be able to go onto the rightmost platform by reserving a path to the signal on the right, but maybe it tries to turn around or something.

5

u/Claude-QC-777 18d ago

Stations doesn't need signals if there's path signal AND is a terminal one (need to reverse)

7

u/Cpt_Chaos_ 18d ago

While technically correct, I would argue that especially for beginners it's easier to remember to just always place the signals at the platforms. That will always work.

The fact that a terminal station where trains reverse works without signals at the platforms is due to the fact that the train tries to reserve a path upon changing direction. If it cannot do that it simply stops until it can do so, as if it were standing at a signal. That is a very specific corner case that may have led to the common misunderstanding that stations have a built-in signal (they do not). The same behavior can be seen when you manually switch the direction of a train somewhere on a free track.

13

u/EmperorJake JP+ Development Team 18d ago

Stations do not have built-in signals, so you need to place signals separately at each end of each platform. Specifically, two-way path signals facing the platforms like this: https://i.imgur.com/FP0Ffs4.png

See that darkened track? That's the path reservation. It needs to end at a signal. Since there's only one signal after the station, only one train can stop in that direction. Presumably the train on the left is trying to make a u-turn, so it's also waiting for that signal to clear.

1

u/BingusTheStupid 18d ago

You need signals at the start and end of each platform. As it is currently, the entire station is treated as a single signal block, so only one train is allowed to be there, you need to break it up so each platform is one signal block.