Long pipe lines vs a train

[LizBizzz]

Hello,
Just was planing on use a train to get oil from the huge oil fields up north to around the gold coast (Those 4 pure oil nodes near west side). So a good distance away.

Would a train be better or one long set of pipelines? Was gonna do a train but just wondering what everyones thoughts on trains vs long belts / belts are.

I assume train is better on lag?

[Joelle]

It is really your preference. You can setup a series of coal power plants out near the water there to power the operation independently, refining everything there. Alternatively, you can ship it back through trucks/trains/belts. Me personally, I just built a sky walkway 4x wide to allow for 2x per side traffic for trucks, eventually trains and belts/hypertubes on top. To each their own really.

[A Rare White Stag]

running a train will save your loading speed. less objects the better

[Warlord]

Is there flow problems with a long pipe? Like, does it pile up in the near end and kind of "ooze" towards the far end? Factorio has that problem, in which extremely long (horizontal) pipelines end up having no flow at the far end.

Another question, is whether the oil you plan to extract is at the same level as the other end. If you have to go uphill or over a mountain to get it there, you need to use pumps to lift the liquid. Trains - while they go slower uphill), at least don't need pumps every 2-4 squares.

[LizBizzz]

Thanks for the replies gonna go with train. Cuz will let me snag some ore along the train line if I need it later.
And oh god, I didn't even think of the pumps Warlord. ><

[Joelle]

Originally posted by LizBizzz:

Thanks for the replies gonna go with train. Cuz will let me snag some ore along the train line if I need it later.
And oh god, I didn't even think of the pumps Warlord. ><

One thing to keep in mind with building your route for the train, you can only use the 8x2m or lower ramps. The track won't work on 8x4m ramps as I have just found out now and am working to regrade my ramps. Also a good idea to give a lower ramp for vehicles outside of trains and an upper ramp via walls for the trains/conveyor belts as an option to pipe things back.

How I have mine setup is like this... with 4x tile floor, split with 3x tile up wall, then 1 tile floor on either side. I have hyper tube under top side of upper tile, train on either right/left top tile and conveyor belt stacks running in center. Still fine tuning things due to the ramp issue noted above, but it works great. Also have railing on outer edge there for lower ramp.

https://imgur.com/Raai9ew

[Troubleshooter]

Pipes/belts will always have more raw throughput. They will cost more. As the game goes on, their relative cost goes down... but a train or truck will pay off faster than a belt or long-pipe in the normal time frame where they are considered.

You've probably already done this math in your head... there's no secret to it... if you are in belt/pipe range of the source to destination... do that