How to combat the broken train AI?

[Wartox]

So, i've just recently started to work with trains. And it just dawns on me how unreliable and broken their AI actually is. What do you guys do to combat this?

I had a train running automatic just fine along a route and now, all of a sudden, it has "no route to destination". The station is just at a straght line from station im going from with 1 junction (T) in between what is working fine. I have driven the route myself by hand using the switches and they work fine. They are rebuilt, still works fine. Stations are facing the correct way. Keep in mind, it was working bloody fine, untill it suddenly wasnt. Now, it cant even find a route to the station even if it is just a few meters in front of train. It is frustrating the hell out of me at the moment lol. /Rant Over

[Wartox]

Uhm lol. I fixed the issue. I rebuilt the actuall train itself and "voila!".

I swear to god it was driving me mad, but im now back on track :)

[Veeshan]

Definitely seeing this as well, not frequent or anything but clearly just a bug. I usually just delete the schedules or reconnect power or something.

[Wartox]

Yeah, i tried that, deleting schedules, rebuilding track, didnt work. Maybe disconnecting power would have worked, didnt try that actually as i would have killed power on my entire world xD

[Veeshan]

Originally posted by Wartox:

Yeah, i tried that, deleting schedules, rebuilding track, didnt work. Maybe disconnecting power would have worked, didnt try that actually as i would have killed power on my entire world xD

Just did it again, all I did was mess with the schedule and it eventually worked. Though I had to do it multiple times. Bring on update 5!

[Wartox]

Yeah, im excited for U5 too! Cant wait to eventually start to tinker with signals and stuff and all the other cool things they've added content wise and QoL wise. Bring it on allready got dang it hehe

[Lyulph]

Originally posted by Wartox:

Uhm lol. I fixed the issue. I rebuilt the actuall train itself and "voila!".

I swear to god it was driving me mad, but im now back on track :)

Had the same. Deleted the train and rebuilt. Everything worked.

[stealthXG]

I think I know what happened. This is a bug that I've figured out what the cause was. If your train's "next stop" in the schedule is missing then your train will give you the error message.

To fix this you have to either make more stops in the schedule until you can see the "next stop" and run it until it reaches the first stop so you can remove all of the unneeded stops, or rebuild the train.

What happens is that its next stop becomes "nothing" so the train puts out an error. This is usually caused by changing a station that's in the train's schedule while it's on that stop.

[Vectorspace]

I have seen one other reason for this

X-shaped junctions. That is where you start with a normal Y junction, then attach an extra track to the single end, so now it's two tracks in, two out, with the control lever bars overlapping. These do not (in my expereince) work, and one of the routes will be non-functional. You can set the switch but the train will ignore it, and an automated train will not accept it. If you jave an X-shaped junction, and your scheduled train must cross it to reach its destination, then it will show the error if the route includes the invalid route.

[Veeshan]

My train is actually on a single rail, no junctions anywhere. And I certainly didn't make any changes to any of it. It just happened when I loaded the game one time.

[DrNewcenstein]

Probably similar to the random "blackout" bug, where machines are all black.

If you delete a station that's in a timetable, yes, it does show as an empty slot. You have to delete the empty entry, or select it and pick another stop.
I set up a coal rail that just moves back and forth, and had this happen. Had a blank entry as well because I deleted the return station to add another freight platform. Set the newly rebuilt station to the empty entry and it worked fine.

[Vectorspace]

If it's a single rail, how does it turn around? A loop at each end? Or is it a top & tail (loco at each end and the train reverses at each end of the track)

[Veeshan]

Originally posted by Vectorspace:

If it's a single rail, how does it turn around? A loop at each end? Or is it a top & tail (loco at each end and the train reverses at each end of the track)

I just use an engine on each side. They're cheap. Tried loops but got pretty cumbersome quick.

[Vectorspace]

Me, I went full dual track everywhere. I had one isolated line that I initially built single track with top & tail locos, but when I connected it to the main line with a triangular junction, the train decided to drive out to the main line, and do a u-turn at an island junction. So when it returned it was pointing the wrong way, and offloaded its resources into the wrong freight platforms, causing belts to get the wrong resources and almost stalling my battery factory. Bit of a mess! So I double tracked.

[DrNewcenstein]

For a back and forth single line, yes, drop two locos on it. Tried a single and they have trouble backing up for some reason.

For my big train that goes from the oil and plastic to the main base, and the steel plant, and the quartz dig, it's a loop with a single engine. It has one short section that merges on the return, but then splits again to get the right approach angle. I can eliminate that easily, though, if I drop if off a cliff onto some pillars closer to the starting station.

I don't put multiple trains on a single rail, usually because I have separate rains dropping off at different locations. My aluminum stuff drops off at a station that unloads via conveyors into a neighboring station. By the time the train that collects it makes another loop, the freight platforms are full.

Might try a multi-level train setup this time, though. 3 trains pulling into a central station stacked on top of each other.

[Lyulph]

Originally posted by DrNewcenstein:

Probably similar to the random "blackout" bug, where machines are all black.

I like the look of the black trains. I would love to be Able to change the colour of the train engine so I have a idea of its purpose by glancing at the colour