train station length question

[Dagome]

Playing on hard, i want to save every $ i can.
I noticed that trains load/unload just fine at stations that are shorter then the train itself.
Other then being mindful of the end of the train not getting caught on crossings (and it looking funny),why would i ever build long stations ?
Are there any penalties for doing this that i'm not seeing ?

thanks

[Vimpster]

No penalties. When only unloading in particular there is no reason to ever have more than the minimum size.

[lozacenz]

The main reason to build longer stations is that overcrowding causes problems.
Goods will decay and vanish if left on an over-crowded platform (not sure if how crowded it is mattered, but the fact that it's crowded at all does), towns will grow slower if your passenger platforms serving them are overcrowded, that sort of thing.
This all only applies to pickups though.

If you have a station where you're only dropping things off, the only reason to have a longer station rather than just a small section and a bunch of regular track is so you don't have to rebuild it all if that changes. (well, that and it looking a little silly)

[Doc Savage]

You only need big stations if you can't get enough through put of XYZ. Doesn't matter what it is, you only need enough platform length to hold enough product till the next vehicle comes to take it.

What a larger platform really does is buy you time to run fewer vehicles or larger trains. It is not a necessity by any stretch of the imagination, it just provides flexibility. If you can park a train you only need enough room to hold until the train gets back saving you cash on the station and on train maintenance as trains sitting in station cost less to maintain.

Cheers..!

[Gorf2010]

Bigger stations for bigger trains on loading only. The station needs to hold at least as much as the train. Unloading is irrelevant.

[ClaudeJ]

It *seems* to me that bigger buildings have a wider catchment area since they have more "pathways". So, while one can customize any station, a lengthier station comes by default with a bigger building.

[Ims]

Longer stations let you place more connection points farther apart (other buildings, or just steps), so you can really maximize the coverage area.

[CunkFeatures]

Yeah they way this game deals with it is kinda stupid. In TTD if the station was too short then the cargo not at the station wouldn't unload. At least aesthetically it looks stupid imo.
Then again in the UK we have tons of old short stations with long trains. "please move to the front 4 carriages of the train to disembark, this is due to the platform being too short for the train".

As others have said, the only benefit is storage and looking good.

[ClaudeJ]

In Belgium too, there are short stations and passengers are simply being told that they should move in the car ahead if they want to disembark, simply.
Now that could be more complicated to do with freight. :/

[𝓕𝔁]

Originally posted by Claude:

In Belgium too, there are short stations and passengers are simply being told that they should move in the car ahead if they want to disembark, simply.
Now that could be more complicated to do with freight. :/

Naah, when the train magically flips around, you can unload it then :)

[lozacenz]

Originally posted by Claude:

It *seems* to me that bigger buildings have a wider catchment area since they have more "pathways". So, while one can customize any station, a lengthier station comes by default with a bigger building.

The important part here is that each building has a (number of) connector(s) which link(s) it to the road. The catchment area is apparently calculated as a distance down the road from those connectors, so the further apart they are, and the less the path down the road has to double back on itself to get to a given building, the more things are in the catchment area.

Which generally means you'll get the biggest catchment out of having a building on each corner, with roads going out from the station both parallel and pupendicular(sp) to the platform/tracks.