4 way intersection

[GreenClover]

Does anyone have a sample of a good 4 way intersection (double tracks) with the ability to movies any direction.

[mbutton15]

Not saying it's good, but something I used in Cities:Skylines was a North-South / East-West cross with a 'diamond' shape for the turning tracks.

Here's a crude picture:

                  |                
                  |\               
                  | \              
                  |  \            
                 /|   \          
                / |    \        
               /  |     \          
              /   |      \          
      -------------------------           
           \      |   /             
            \     |  /              
             \    | /               
              \   |/                
               \  |                
                \ |                
                 \|                
                  |                

Tunnel/bridge at the cross-over.

[chaney]

Sorry I can't give a screen shot but my system isn't running the game right now :(
The above classic diamond should be a generally useful setup. If a tunnel/bridge in the middle is too expensive and the traffic moving through the center is low, you can actually make a crossing there at the same height for both sets of track. The track building will fight a little on this. Build one pair of double track. Build the other direction across that track. Click on the "to be built" track where it crosses the existing track, and it should set a control point for a crossing. The SECOND track of the "being built" double track will need to be separated from the first track of the new pair by a small distance for some reason. I sure wish I could post pictures instead.

[mbutton15]

So I had a go at building it myself !! As chaney says it's a pain you can't run the 2nd track completely parallel to the first.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1916545862

I also built a roundabout. This was something I tried in a recent scenario, but just didn't have the space to squeeze it in where I wanted. Not sure how it will flow due to some sections not being 8 carriages big. If it's build more carefully then it probably won't gridlock.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1916545880
It was a pain to build. I first tried with a circle for the roundabout, but had to settle for a square with curved corners !! I just couldn't get some junctions to go green. I think it was cos I was trying to makes the joins on curves so that's why I made it a square so I had straight track where the junctions needed to be. But I still needed to do some fiddling like chaney explained to set some crossing points.

[Dray Prescot]

If you want 2 double tracks to CONNECT to 2 other double tracks (and NOT just CROSS them) so that trains on any double track can get onto ANY of the double tracks (Including the original in a reverse direction) use a 2 (or 4 but it is more expensive) track Signal Control Warehouse. It takes a lot of space but it does the job. You can start with the 2 Track version and upgrade to the 4 track version when a lot of trains start using it.

The screenshot below is a 4 track Warehouse (Signal Controlled) located at a Grain Resource Site on the Germany Map Patchwork Scenario. Using a Warehouse at a Resource Site is a natural place to do this since you may have a lot of trains going to the Warehouse anyway (coming from 4 different directions). I have 4 different Cities using a double track to reach that Grain Resource. In many cases the trains keep going on to other Cities, with some of them picking up Grain at the Warehouse. It is the busiest railroad junction on that Game Map. In some cases Trains start at the Grain Resource and deliver Grain to 4 (plus other) Cities. Other trains are just trying to get between any pair of the 4 Cities. Every City in the Game needs Grain and for ALL my (7) Cities this is where they get it. At this point my 3 Cities in Hesse have a total of over 240k population (it is a Mission Task to be accomplished). Rivers and Rough/High terrain constrict how tracks and the Warehouse can be laid in that area.


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1916663579

[mbutton15]

Originally posted by Dray Prescot:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1916663579

I really like that !!

You mention space - I'd say it's more compact that the examples I showed above. I measured them and the cross-over version was about 60 miles each way and the roundabout was more like 70 miles each way. Your solution may be about as long, but is only half as wide. You could probably make it even more compact if you use the non signal-controlled version and put your own cross-overs in.

[Dray Prescot]

Like I said above, a Warehouse at a Resource Site that draws a lot of tracks and trains, makes a good place where you would want to exchange trains between 3 or 4 (or more) different directions, which is what a X crossing is all about, when you include the links between the branches. It will not be useful in all cases, but keep it in mind, It is also useful when you want to merge 2 double tracks into one double track, if it happens near a Resource Site.

The same pattern could also be used where the Warehouse is located near a City instead of a Resource Site.

If you think about it, the same thing happens at 4 Track Signal Control Station IN a City, you have 2 double track connections on each end of the Station, and any train that enters the Station from ANY of the 4 directions can leave through any of the 4 directions (or more if some of the double tracks are actually 2 single tracks).

Not all the trains passing through this junction stop at the Warehouse to load grain. Additional tracks that by passed this junction were highly constricted by the rivers and very high/rough terrain. On the East side my Cities to the NE and SE had a separate double track direct connection that by passed the Grain Warehouse. Doing the same thing on the West was hard to do because of High terrain. If the terrain had been more open some bypasses parallel to the Warehouse would have been possible.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1917020810

This screen shot is a zoomed out view of the previous screenshot rotated by 90 degrees.

[Weefree]

This is great! Will a maintanance station do the same job as the warehouse in this example?

[mbutton15]

Originally posted by Weefree:

This is great! Will a maintanance station do the same job as the warehouse in this example?

It will indeed. The only word of caution is there is more potential to have all 4 tracks blocked with stationary trains. That's because maintenance is wanted by all trains so any or all could stop there. With a warehouse, only trains actually wanting stuff out of the warehouse will stop there. I guess, as with any station, overload it with too many trains and there could be delays.

[Dray Prescot]

You can not pick up or drop off cargoes at a Maintenance Station, it only does maintenance.

A Maintenance Station would serve the same purpose of connecting together all 4 tracks on one side with all 4 tracks on the other side, as my Signal Control Warehouse, but it could end up causing backups of trains as mbutton15 indicates.

You can add a Maintenance Shop to a Warehouse that functions just like it does at a Station, i.e. only trains that make a STOP at Station/Warehouse where the Shop is located will be serviced (when they need it). Trains that pass through will NOT be serviced at a SHOP.

The advantage of a Maintenance Station is that it will maintain Trains that are just passing through without needing a Stop on the Train Route Manifest.

On the other hand you do NOT want to do Maintenance at really busy locations with lots of trains stopping or passing through. It can/will cause a lot of cascading delays for many trains. It is better to do Maintenance at dead end and/or low traffic Stations/Warehouse.