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[Corona688]

Even unpowered, they have really revolutionized my forts, making it possible to haul across distances that were just impractical.  Dumping especially has made it easy to centralize my workshops.

Yes, I know -- some consider quantum stockpiling an exploit.  I consider it necessary once a fort has more than two rooms in it.  Urist McHauler will happily cross dozens of rocks to grab one you dug more recently.

My design thus far is long, 3-wide ramps which intersects a series of X stairways beside.  When I find ore, I carve a track to the stairways and dump straight to the magma shops down them.  I used to have a channel to dump blocks and furniture, a channel for ore, etc, but now I just dump all rocks to sort later, and manufacture in the core.

My thoughts on this:

1) A 3-wide ramp isn't enough.  I should have left room for 5, or 8.
2) A straight up-ramp for 99 z-layers makes it awkward to cross tracks.  Occasional flat spots would have been nice.
4) This arrangement worked well for mining up into a mountain.  Mining down would mean a lot more pushing.
3) A track loop with multiple stops could be interesting.  It'd spend less time stuck at one stop, since the stockpiles at each stop would fill up.

Another thing I haven't got yet is any method to remove goods from the core.  This causes lemming rushes for construction of things.

A track to the caverns would be really nice.  I don't know any method I can do that and still close it off at need, except a depot where stockpiles cross and dwarves reload.

Any thoughts?  Tell me about your efficient minecart arrangements

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

I'm currently setting up a minecart ore transport system. Spiral ramps down to magma.  Soon I will try to set up a minecart defense system whereby I send marksdwarves around a track faster than enemies can land hits or bolts on them.

[TruePikachu]

I'm currently setting up a minecart ore transport system. Spiral ramps down to magma.  Soon I will try to set up a minecart defense system whereby I send marksdwarves around a track faster than enemies can land hits or bolts on them.

I built a magma transport system which carries magma up. Your idea is probably more practical, though.

I generally use minecarts for QSPs, but they are also useful for "special" hauling tasks (ore from a distant mine, magma from the sea). I think I've only used them as a weapon once, and it caused a lot of damage to all involved.

Specifically, I tried using, IIRC, a 2x2 array of impulse ramps set to go in a circle, so the minecart would continuously go around in a circle without power. Of course, I had a bridge over the ramps, but I also, of course, had some issues with military deployment when the trap was active. Something VERY important to remember when handling minecarts is that, if not forbidden, dwarves will attempt to move it if it is stationary.

Another very important thing to remember is that slopes should probably have a sort of derailer, especially if unpowered. In my "Lava Elevator Mk1" (which was dwarf powered), I've had dwarves push the cart up halfway, decide to go for a drink, and the cart just rolls all the way back down, derailed at the turn leading to the magma fill station, and dropped 1/7 magma onto the tile it ended up on, basically jamming up the system.

[Corona688]

The only cart control thing DF has is the track stop, so I'm guessing that's what you mean.

[TruePikachu]

The only cart control thing DF has is the track stop, so I'm guessing that's what you mean.

No, there are two ways to make derailers:
* High speed on a turn -> Cart derails from the track
* One-way-turn -> Cart turns off and subsequently derails
The "one-way turn" is constructed as a straight track section, but it is engraved as a turn:

Code: [Select]

═╔═In that quick little diagram, any uncontrolled* cart going from the left to the right continues on its merry way as though the middle section were a plain old straight section. However, any slow uncontrolled cart going from right to left will turn off the track.
A slightly more complex, yet still safe, setup is to first have a speed derail, then a one-way derail:

Code: [Select]

.╥╥
═╚╗
  ║From the west track, all carts can proceed to the south. NO uncontrolled carts from the south track will end up on the west track, but rather will end up going north from one of the ╥ sections. Ignore the dot, it is needed to prevent formatting issues with SMF.

[Corona688]

That is very useful to know, thanks.  Is there a way to 'merge' tracks, i.e. two tracks going the same direction ending up the same track?

[TruePikachu]

That is very useful to know, thanks.  Is there a way to 'merge' tracks, i.e. two tracks going the same direction ending up the same track?

Take the combined derailer, take off the left track. The two tracks at the top will merge together to the single track at the bottom.
There is no (simple and foolproof) way to split tracks, though.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

But, this being DF, there are probably many complex, buggy ones.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

Is there a checklist of stupid mistakes that mean tracks will not connect properly?

[Corona688]

I've found that it's always best to engrave tracks if you can.  It'll usually pick the right pieces without the guesswork.

[infrequentLurker]

Re: track splitting, couldn't you modify your one way track here

Code: [Select]

═╔═ever so slightly to get this:

Code: [Select]

═╔═S══
Then it would be a matter of managing the track Stop there to send carts to the west (and subsequently south) or east and on their merry way.

[Corona688]

Track stops require the intervention of dwarves though, don't they?  Someone would have to push it, instead of just letting it run its way.

They do have a variable friction setting.  If it goes low enough to not actually stop it, that could be useful.

[TruePikachu]

Track stops require the intervention of dwarves though, don't they?  Someone would have to push it, instead of just letting it run its way.

They can be linked to mechanisms in order to toggle the friction on/off.