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[Romi]

In the past, I made basic use of minecarts mainly to save haul time moving heavy raw resources from top to bottom of the fort. This time around I'd like to better integrate minecarts in my industry design.

I usually build my forts as multi z around central straircase but I am looking for any examples of minecart use that improve production workflow (industry/stockpile etc). So that I can have a rough idea how much space to pin down.

[Schmaven]

A mine cart track that takes from a metal stockpile near the trade depot and dumps it next to the smelters saves a lot of hauling time.

[anewaname]

I use minecarts for refuse dumping (magma chute), sometimes for QSP, or as weapons, but usually not for moving large amounts of stuff across many z's.

Most of the reason is that the value of a minecart system is decreased when dwarfs tend to walk to to the far end of the track to load the minecart, then walk all the way back. It is possible to control who does the work on the other end of the minetrack, using burrows, but even with burrows I estimate that it is less efficient than letting the dwarfs move the items by wheelbarrow, so I do not use them that way.

What sort of use are you considering?

[chips]

     The main usage I've found for minecarts is boosting the productivity of my stone working and metalworking industries. Through clever stockpile setups and route set ups you can use wheelbarrows and minecarts in conjunction, which I'll briefly go over. I've also had some luck using it to reduce my time on the surface when getting lumber and boosting the productivity of my wood industry, but won't really get into that. There are some risks likeslamming into an obstacle and being blown apart or colliding with minecarts.
     The first step to proper minecarting is setting up your piles and routes for maximum efficiency. Designate your piles right on top of the goods you want hauled out, and then set the pile to only take from linked stockpiles (press q, hover selector over pile, press a). This will prevent your dwarfs from wasting time filling up the stockpile. Next, put a stone stockpile right next to where your stop is on your route. Link the stockpiles so you are taking goods from the more distant pile and carrying them to the close one. This is mainly done to allow you to use wheelbarrows to get those heavy rocks right next to your minecart, as haulers will not use wheelbarrows to load minecarts. Careful stockpile linking also gives you full control over where your dwarfs are hauling stone from, and what type of stone.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

     Above is where my minecarts meet up. Its pretty crowded so it may be hard to tell even with my labels whats going on. The four tracks heading West/East all dump at a centralized location. This centeral area is designated as a stone and stockpile. Then the stockpile is linked to the workshops that require stone. Now your workers will never have to carry heavy objects far to their workshops; if the stockpile is empty the job will automatically cancel and you'll get an alert. 
     The track that goes North/South feeds metallic ores and economic rocks down to my magma forge layer. It is set to take only from where the E/W minecarts dump it. I haven't been able to effectively use minecarts to travel up/down Z levels, although with machines or exploits it is possible. Instead, pits still work the best for me. Just make sure you restrict the area where the stone lands as they land with tremendous force. You'll also want to keep people away from the pit in general because it makes quite a mess if this happens...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

     Finally, carts that are being guided are immune to collision. You can have multiple carts on the same track as long as they are being guided. It also gets rid of the risk of running over a helpless victim, at the cost of it moving at the same speed as a dwarf with a wheelbarrow. Minecarts being pushed or rode on can collide with units, but it rarely happens with traffic restrictions and alternative routes available. You'll also want to turn off hauling for your skilled laborers. For example with my set up, my masons, mechanics and metalworkers do no hauling. You won't boost your production much if your valuable workers are the ones doing the hauling.

[Stench Guzman]

The main use I've had for minecarts is for carrying magma from the magma sea so I can build forges near the rest of my stuff.

Magma for hauling actual items long distance only makes sense if your fort is spread out across 1 or 2 z-levels.  If you build vertically a lot it's not quite as effective and very time intensive to get right.

[HrumpfOfDoom]

How exactly does one use a minecart to move magma? I get pump stacks. but that's a lot of work considering that I have enough trees to never need coal. since Magma forges etc. don't need a lot of magma, minecarts might be worth it.

[Bumber]

How exactly does one use a minecart to move magma? I get pump stacks. but that's a lot of work considering that I have enough trees to never need coal. since Magma forges etc. don't need a lot of magma, minecarts might be worth it.

https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Magma#Design_3:_Minimalist_magma_moving

[Sarmatian123]

I do all my magma workshops on surface (look at minimalist magma moving that Bumber linked).
To haul steel minecarts filled with lava up to surface I use steel wheelbarrows. Not tracks. Tracks take too long.
To haul magma for 25 (9 forges, 9 smelters, 3 glass, 3 kilns) magma workshops takes 1 season.
It takes only 18 steel minecarts.
3 6x1 stockpiles with 3 wooden wheelbarrow underground and 3 6x1 stockpiles with 3 steel wheelbarrows above ground.

Tbh, the only practical use in industry for minecarts is to minimize area for stockpile.
Stops with minecarts allows to put resources next to workshops in quantum stockpiles.
For quantum stockpiles dumps, I usually pick the lightest wood. Alder and willow are pretty light.

I hope my input helps somehow.

[Bumber]

Iron and nickel are alternatives to steel.

[Sarmatian123]

Iron and nickel are alternatives to steel.

Aye to iron. It is even cheaper and more abundant, then steel.
Nay to nickel. Even, if you hit vein with it. 8800 density vs 7850 of iron and steel.
Every bit counts, as sometimes some Dwarf for some reason will decide to pull minecart manually all those 150+ z-levels.

Also it is good to disable all possibly training soldiers from furniture and stone hauling. They like to pull stunts exactly like that on other poor Dwarves, when they go training.

[kaijyuu]

The only time I've used a minecart track for moving items was for moving my sand bags to my volcano forges. The sand was only in the far top corner of my embark and the volcano the bottom left, and I didn't feel like moving my base over to the sand.

[Schmaven]

Here's an example of a working system:  I just finished a minecart route that travels about 350 steps, up 17 Z-levels from the marble discovery, to the magma forges by the armory. 

Spoiler: Loading (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Unloading (click to show/hide)

I tracked the trips for 7 cycles, and it takes just over 2 days on average to bring 5 marble boulders up from the quarry.  Much quicker than wheel barrelling a single boulder that far 5 times. 

Spoiler: Trip Data (click to show/hide)

151-02-22 cart dumped marble at forges
151-02-22 cart pushed off empty from forges
151-02-23 cart arrives at quarry empty
151-02-23 cart pushed off full
151-02-24 cart arrives at quarry empty
151-02-25 cart pushed off full
151-02-26 cart arrives at quarry empty
151-02-26 cart pushed off full
151-02-28 cart arrives at quarry empty
151-03-01 cart pushed off full
151-03-02 cart arrives at quarry empty
151-03-03 cart pushed off full
151-03-05 cart arrives at quarry empty
151-03-05 cart pushed off full
151-03-07 cart arrives at quarry empty
151-03-08 cart pushed off full
151-03-10 cart arrives at quarry empty

This route is approximately 350 steps long, and has a total rise of 17 Z-levels.  I abandoned a configuration where it did not stop to unload, but dumped and kept going back to the quarry.  For some reason the dwarves would keep hauling it back to the top, (empty thank goodness) only to push it back down.  If that could get sorted out, it could be much faster, probably 1 day for a round trip. 

Also, as mentioned before, it takes quite a bit of setup time.  The time invested to make such a system is only worth it if you have a large quantity to move.  In my case, I have a 10-Z marble deposit that spans 3 of the largest stockpiles you can designate, so this one should be a substantial net gain in labor time saved.

[Sarmatian123]

I have 11 stone stockpiles of dimensions 4x1 with assigned 3 wheelbarrows each. I can't fathom how single minecart can beat it, specially when you need Dwarves to load up stones on this minecart. In my set up Dwarves speed up all the way to fetch the stone and return back to fortress equally speedy.

[Schmaven]

I have 11 stone stockpiles of dimensions 4x1 with assigned 3 wheelbarrows each. I can't fathom how single minecart can beat it, specially when you need Dwarves to load up stones on this minecart. In my set up Dwarves speed up all the way to fetch the stone and return back to fortress equally speedy.

The way to beat it is to combine the two aproaches.  As the new marble is mined out, I paint a stone stockpile over it and set it to give to the stockpile near the minecart with ample wheel barrows available.  That stockpile feeds into a quantum stockpile directly adjacent the minecart stop.  Dwarves just take 1 step carrying the boulder from there to load the minecart.  Then after a push, instead of taking that boulder up to the forges, 1 at a time, they can go back to the quarry to haul out more freshly mined marble.

I suppose if you used all your labor as miners to mine it all out, then switch them all to haulers, that would work too. 

The general consensus I'm getting about it here though is that minecarts are useless except for quantum stockpiles, minimal magma hauling, and complex trap design, so don't bother with them outside of those purposes.  But I had fun setting up the system to haul marble, and it doesn't feel like it was a waste of time.  My labor is just split so that the miners are always busy mining, and the smelters always smelting.  The haulers are currently getting marble up to the smelters and forges faster than 3 dedicated smiths can work it, so it's a fine pace for this particular fort.