freight train stations? where do I place them?

[skaaater 0]

Hello! I'm having trouble on how to and where to place freight train stations. I heard you are supposed to put them in the middle of your big industrial areas. But do I put the station in the center of my industrial area without a road leading to it or does there need to be a road connection to it. And can a train haul crops and such from agricultural areas. I am very confused please help me on to where I need to place the stations.

[Constantina 5]

To make freight stations work properly, place them next to the railway line, and next to a road as well. Freight stations can be placed in Agricultural zones, so long as the railway next to the station has a neighbour connection.

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Constantina

at Athens and Midlands, NSWiki, SC4EVER.com and Simtropolis

London 2012

[asilver 0]

Originally posted by: skaaater Hello! I'm having trouble on how to and where to place freight train stations. I heard you are supposed to put them in the middle of your big industrial areas. But do I put the station in the center of my industrial area without a road leading to it or does there need to be a road connection to it. And can a train haul crops and such from agricultural areas. I am very confused please help me on to where I need to place the stations.quote>

Hi, First of all - the road is necessary. Trucks are going to deliver freight from industries to station, then it's going to go by rail. You can also transport goods from farms. But your station is going to be used only if factories will be able to transfer goods outside your city faster by rail than by any other (e.g.roads). So if your rail track has longer way to the border than your road, it's almost sure they'll take road. Hope this helps ;-)

[Constantina 5]

To force the freight to use the rail, you could simply sever all the road neighbour connections, but the buses may not be able to use them.

[prince_of_sims 0]

you don't need freight stations. as long as your rail line is touching an industrial zone, the industry will use it. however, it's usually a good idea to place a frieght station or two, if for some reason your industry is adamant about not using rails

[Daddy-O 1]

re: you don't need freight stations.

Really? I thought those were a must. I also read somewhere that Industry prefers roads no matter what. So, I installed BRF_Notrucks_* pieces. Did I not need to do that?

I have separate frieght and passenger lines flowing though my regions. The stations report that they are being used but I have only seen one train and the occasional maintance car go by. What do I need to do to see more choo choos?

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Originally posted by: Daddy-O

re: you don't need freight stations.

Really? I thought those were a must. I also read somewhere that Industry prefers roads no matter what. So, I installed BRF_Notrucks_* pieces. Did I not need to do that?

I have separate frieght and passenger lines flowing though my regions. The stations report that they are being used but I have only seen one train and the occasional maintance car go by. What do I need to do to see more choo choos?quote>

Well, in fact, you need frieght stations unless all your industries touch the tracks. you need a station for those industries that need to truck their output to the station by road. You also need one for farms unless the track runs through each farm.

It is up to you how many rail sidings you are willing to lay down on your zoned areas. And, in any case, if you want freight to go by rail, you have to make sure it is a longer haul to carry it over roads if you have off tile roads.

[vinnylv69 0]

just adding my 2cents here...here is what ive noticed..
sims do perfer to use trucks over freight but if u have a large industry center(or ag.) then the freight stations will still get some use...
also, as Daddy-O said there is a mod that u can install "no truck" road pieces that u can plop around your industry center so that the sims HAVE to use the trains...but it depends on the layout of ur city as to how hard that might be...u have to get every road covered or the trucks will slip out...and the mod does cover ave., hwy, etc. 
i saw an increase in rail usage after doin this...
p.s. if ur playing the full version/expansion then there is a transportation query button that tells u the flow of all traffic. just click on a bldg and it'll show u where the "flow" is going..
also, as a side note, if ur city is large it might take awhile of playing the game for the query to show anything(let it run for a "year" or so)
hope this helps