They're slightly bigger pain than just designating one at start but overall I like them. Also makes haulers useful for important jobs and the like. Minecarts in general can be learned very much piecemeal, what you need for current task.
As for QSPing, short guide:
Things you need:
Minecart
(produced in either Carpenter's workshop, or at Metalsmith's forge under Other objects)
1 building material item for the track stop.
Also, you need to decide what to stockpile. It's entirely possible to have multiple inputs and multiple outputs, but now, lets limit it to just one wood stockpile of each:
In-between them,
build a
Construction - Track
Stop.
Use
d to make sure it dumps on one of the stockpiles. Here, dumping west:
A mechanic will come and build it. Meanwhile, some logs were already hauled.
Now, to make use of the minecart built earlier: go into
hauling. Make a new
route. Move cursor over the track stop and make a new
stop.
Assign
vehicle.
Select it with
+ and
Enter.
Now,
Enter the Stop menu and you'll see some default conditions.
i
x-nay three times. Then, press
right to move cursor over the wood stockpile on the east and make a new
stockpile link. It will only take things from it it wants, so
Enter the desired item list and use your cursors to move mouse over wood, then
enable it.
After this,
Escape back to stop menu,
Escape back to route menu,
Escape back to main menu.
Watch dwarves qsp the wood
Tips:
• Since you're likely setting up stockpile settings three times, use macros/custom stockpiles to reduce the amount of micromanagement you need to do for even slightly complex stockpiles.
• The input stockpiles don't need to be adjacent to the minecart.
• Unlike most buildings, stockpiles can be placed over stairs and ramps.
• The input stockpile doesn't always have to be exactly like the output stockpile.
A common example is heavy items - you'd have output be "take from links only", with input stockpile having wheelbarrows enabled.
• Multiple minecarts can draw from a single, or multiple input stockpile(s). With this, you can have 1 "heavy items" input stockpile that draws both stones and caged and dead animals from quarries and caverns below, whereupon they're directed to masonry and meat industries.
• Food: You typically want a larger input pile than 1-tile, since food tends to rot. (Refuse can have similar problem underground.)
• Finally, lot of things don't need to be quantum stockpiled or even just stockpiled and can be kept in the workshop.
For examples of the first, things that can fit into 1-3 bins or barrels or just produced in that amount and aren't likely to cause interruptions when tasked.
ex: Cut gems with single jeweler's workshop, milk produced from a pig herd.
For examples of the second, light things that you're not going to transport a distance for another workshop are a common example.
ex: Thread that will be taken right away by the adjacent loom, goblets that will be carried whereever drinks are as necessary.
As only food rots, depending on how close to the wire/just-in-time production you run your fortress the second category can include actually heavy things like beds.
Now, troubleshooting:
Q: My dwarves are not moving anything into the minecart?
A: You forgot to
Enter the desired items menu
Q: My dwarves are putting things in minecart and they remain inside?
A: You forgot to set the track stop to
dump in desired direction.
Though this is fine for some things, such as eating unpackaged food, booze for cooking (but not drinking), trade goods (when trading the minecart too).
Q: My dwarves are in a hauling loop?
A: Barrels, pots and bins tend to be owned by stockpiles - frequently the input stockpile. So, they'll haul it back to them, and then store into minecart again. Beware, for many stockpiles come with bins/barrels enabled by default.
Alternatively, you set the minecart to dump on input stockpile.
Q: My dwarves prefer other jobs?
A: "Store item in Vehicle" is low-priority task.
Q: Everything is set correctly and I have idlers, yet nothing is happening?
A: Rarely - and similarly to libraries - the minecart gets invisibly
TSK'd - tasked - with a job there isn't a dwarf for anymore for some reason. Delete and relink, or forbid, unpause, unforbid the minecart.
Q: The minecart is killing passing dwarves?!
A: Typically happens if they dodge into it. Don't have fights occur near minecarts.
Q: I have no fights and I moved the minecart away but it is still killing passing dwarves?
A: Build a bridge over a volcano and make a garbage dump zone. Toss it into a volcano to be melted down by the fires it was forged.
Q: What if I made the minecart of steel, not wood or gold?
A: Place it under a raised raising drawbridge, or the hinge tile of lowered raising drawbridge. Pull the lever to make it disappear.
Q: I put the minecart into the busiest stairway of my fort and it killed everyone who went near?
A: You will be undone by the monster you bought into this world. Isolate, contain, and then hit it with another minecart to push it under a bridge to be disposed of.
Q: The second minecart
also killed everyone who came near?
A: Weaponize your machine overlords. Make enemies path through them and be pureed.
Q: Enemies picked up the minecarts and killed my dwarves with them?
A: The enemies are mortal. The minecarts are not alive. Slay the mortals and seal the machines. You can still live.
Q: I unforbid the decade-long garbage cloth QSP and game crashed?
A: You have bested your machine overlord. Go on, be free!