I'm constructing a minecart trainstation and as you will have guessed, that involves 15 lanes of adjacent redstone wiring. In my station, there are many instances in which I need to power other lanes from a single lane. More specifically, I have been trying to have each lane power all lanes to one side but not itself. For example, if there was a signal going down lane 6 then lanes 1 - 5 would be powered but lanes 6 - 15 would not.

My only successful attempt was a 36 block long plane of redstone that had each lane power the one to the left in turn and then have pistons moving a block out of the way to prevent signal passing through the powered lane. This was highly impractical and I found myself having to build more mountain as my station ended up about 150 - 200 blocks long.

Simple(ish) question: How can I achieve this effect in the fewest number of blocks possible? A schematic would be ideal.

As requested, here is a screenshot. I couldn't get a great angle as there's another massive plane of redstone 3 blocks above it but you should be able to see how the redstone signal is passed to the adjacent lane in turn so all lanes to the right of this one are powered at the end.
-Image no longer used as limit is 2-

Here is a schematic of a slightly optimized version of the screenshot above. It still works in exactly the same way and is the same size. Schematic 1

Also to note: Only one lane will be active at any one time and there will be a small gap between lanes disabling and enabling. Powering is like that of a lever in that there is a constant signal for a long but very much varying amount of time. Minimum powered time I would expect not to go below 5 or 6 redstone ticks and the gap of no power is as long as a stone button pulse.

I have a much shorter one but it has quite a bit of height to it. Here is a screenshot of it if you can make out the details.
Screenshot 1

  • Would you give us a screenshot of what you have already made? We might be able to understand better what you're trying to do. – Jason_ Apr 9 '16 at 19:32
  • @Jason_ I've added a screenshot – user144451 Apr 9 '16 at 19:38
  • I'm also currently making a schematic of the slightly optimized version of this so it is clearer and easier to understand. – user144451 Apr 9 '16 at 19:59
  • Say you activate them, how long do you want them active, or if they are always active how would you like to turn them off? – Jason_ Apr 9 '16 at 20:02
  • They are activated in the same way a lever would activate them. They turn on and keep a constant signal. Then when the "level" is turned off, they will all turn off. Only one lane will be active at any time. – user144451 Apr 9 '16 at 20:03

This design uses signal strengths, and, if I understood your question, it should work:

~#R}R>R @-
~#R R>R @-
~#R R>R @-
~#R R>R @-
~#R R>R @-
~#R R>R @-
~#R R>R @-
~#R R>R @-    Key:
~#R R>R @-    ~ Lever
~#R R>R @-    # Block
~#R R>R @-    > Repeater
~#R R>R @-    } Comparator
~#R R>R @-    R Redstone
~#R R>R @-    @ Block with redstone on top
~#R R>R}@-    - Redstone Torch

This solution may and probably will break if you use a number of inputs other than 15 you may be able to fix this by putting the comparators into subtraction mode and dampening the signals.

  • This is an exceptional answer. Where did you find this information? If it is a website then I'd like to look at what other information there might be – user144451 Apr 11 '16 at 14:47
  • @OlieAyre Your question asked for a redstone signal going varying lengths from the side. A redstone signal dying seemed to me the best way. The repeaters in the middle are there the repeat the signal but retain the signal strength. – ash4fun Apr 11 '16 at 16:52

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