There are many places where you might use a train station in Satisfactory, including:

• Factory pick-up and drop-off for various materials.
  
• Travel destinations to make it more convenient for you to get around the map.
  
• Outposts to transport raw materials from miners and extractors.

This guide describes how I build train station outposts to collect materials from miners and extractors which will be sent to a factory. I also use this same track/station/platform layout as a starting point for other uses in the game besides outposts.

I'm assuming there will be 1 train station building and at least 1 freight platform because freight-less trains don't seem particularly useful to me. Even trains that I use for personal travel always have a freight car so I can carry stuff around with me that won't fit in my inventory. But if you really want to make an outpost that consists of only a single train station building, I've made the necessary notes in the guide how to do that.

I call this an "adjustable" train station because it is very easy to change the number of freight platforms in the future. In particular, with this design you can increase/decrease the number of freight platforms without the need to delete the Train Station building -- which is important because when you delete a Train Station building, it gets deleted from all routes that reference it.

The track layout also has the outpost's entrance and exit tracks on the same side of the outpost rather than at opposite ends. This allows me to easily connect the outpost to a roundabout (I posted a guide for making roundabouts here) simplifying connecting the outpost to the rail network. More importantly, when changing the number of freight platforms, the entrance and exit are not disrupted so any signals put into place demarcating the outpost will likewise not be disrupted.

This track layout has another advantage besides minimizing disruptions when making changes in the future. When trains enter a station where they're going to dock, they slow down. If the first freight platform encountered by the train is close to an interchange or split in the track, a very long train might block the interchange/split while it's [slowly] moving into position to dock. By having that long segment of track between the entrance to the outpost and the freight platforms (see picture, below), the train is most likely to completely exit any preceding interchanges/splits before making any significant slowdowns prior to completely entering the station and docking. This helps keep splits/interchanges clear.

Here is an example of a completed train station outpost with two freight platforms.

Here is an example of a completed train station outpost that has been enclosed into a building showing the entrance/exit point and the entrance/exit tracks connecting to a roundabout:

The first thing to do is to create a platform for the outpost. The minimum sized platform needed for an outpost with a single freight platform is 9 x 11 foundation tiles. The side with 9 foundation tiles is where the entrance/exit tracks will be placed. For each additional freight platform you are going to build, add another set of 9x2 foundation blocks (the width of a freight platform is 2 foundation blocks).

I recommend thinking ahead a little bit when you're deciding where to place the platform and the entrance/exit tracks because where they are placed determines where the train station building goes. You'll probably want to avoid having to relocate the train station building because (as mentioned in the introduction) when you delete a train station building, it is deleted from all train routes that reference it. You can add/remove freight platforms without that problem.

Step 1: Create the platform. In this example, there are 9 foundation tiles top-to-bottom and 11 foundation tiles left-to-right:

Step 2: Now add short track segments as placeholders for the entrance and exit tracks. These need to be straight so the track segments inside the outpost will line up properly. In the picture, the entrance track is on the bottom and the exit track is on the top. The track segments are placed with their centers on the top/bottom edges of the 4th foundation block from the top. The track centers are 1/2 foundation block in from the left edge of the platform. I've extended the track segments about 2 foundation blocks, but how far you extend them doesn't matter, as long as they're straight:
This is the picture rotated 90° clockwise and zoomed to make it easier to see the placement:

Step 3: Add the train station building so that it is aligned with the exit track you just placed and the direction arrow points to that exit. The edge of the train station building should be on the inside edge of the 4th foundation block from the exit:


Step 4: Connect the exit track and the train station building:

There is a double curve in the track where the trains enter the outpost.

If you examine all the positions where a power pole can be placed on a foundation block, there are 81: 9 in each direction (including right along the edges). For the first curve, note the placement of the power pole in the picture. It is 1 position down from the top edge, and 1 position right from the center of the foundation block that it is on:

Step 5: Add a track segment with one end's center at the power pole location and the other end connecting to the end of the entrance track. Start the segment at the end of the entrance track and end it at the location of the power pole. This should orient the unattached edge so it is parallel to the top/bottom edges of the foundation blocks:

For the second curve, note the placement of the power pole in the picture. It is on the inside edge of the fifth foundation block from the left (lining up with the exact middle of the train station building) and 1/2 foundation block toward the top from the bottom edge of the platform:

Step 6: Add a track segment with one end's center at the power pole location and the other end connecting to the end of the entrance track. Start the segment at the end of the entrance track and end it at the location of the power pole. This should orient the unattached edge so it is parallel to the left/right edges of the foundation blocks:

Step 7: Add as many freight platforms as you want. In this example, there is only 1:

There is a double curve in the track leading to the freight platforms.

For the first curve, note the position of the power pole in the picture. It is at the exact center of the rightmost foundation block that is 6th from the top:
NOTE: If you're not using any freight platforms, then the location of the power pole will be two foundation blocks to the left (the width of a freight platform).

Step 8: Add a track segment with the center of one endpoint at the location of the power pole and connecting to the freight platform. Start at the freight platform and end at the location of the power pole. This should orient the unattached edge so it is parallel to the top/bottom edges of the foundation blocks:
NOTE: If you're not using any freight platforms, this step is the same except you're coming directly off the train station building instead of a freight platform.

For the second curve, note the position of the power pole in the picture. It is at the exact center of the bottom-most foundation block that is 4th from the right edge of the platform:
NOTE: If you're not using any freight platforms, ignore the position of the power pole and connect the entrance track and the track leading to the train station building. The track is now completed so you can skip steps 9 and 10.

Step 9: Add a track segment with the center of one endpoint at the location of the power pole and connecting to the end of the track connected to the freight platform. Start at the freight platform track and end at the location of the power pole. This should orient the unattached edge so it is parallel to the left/right edges of the foundation blocks:

You should now be able to connect the tracks leading from the entrance to the freight platforms.

Step 10: Add the final track segment:

The track is now completed. At this point, I suggest adding a locomotive and creating a route to make sure that everything is connected as you intended.

Depending on how quickly your train cycles through its route, the speed of the belts you're using, the mk level of the miner, overclocking, etc., you may want to add some storage between your supply and the freight platforms. I think this is a good idea in general, because while the freight car is being loaded/unloaded, the freight platform's buffer is frozen.

By putting a storage container between the supply and the freight platform, you can prevent the supply line from backing up and keep the miners/extractors busy if the train is emptying the freight platforms fully each time it docks. I usually use an industrial storage container and sometimes connect both belts to the freight platform so that the second belt can help make up for any lost throughput while the freight platform's buffer was frozen (this depends on the speeds of the miner and belts, of course). I've started doing this all the time so I don't have to think about it. And the design of the outpost track accommodates storage containers nicely.

I tend to do the routing of the supply lines from below the platform and then use a floor hole to bring them up for loading into the freight platforms. I don't always know in advance the rate/quantity at which supply will accumulate or how many freight platforms I'll be using for a given supply line, so I put a splitter on the supply line to make it easier to add more freight platforms accepting supply from this supply line later.

Step 11: Add storage containers between the supply and freight platforms:

To change the number of freight platforms at any time in the future (without relocating the Train Station building) do the following:

1. Delete the two curved track segments connected to the freight platforms (placed in steps 8 & 9).
   
2. If you're removing freight platforms, also delete the straight track segment that is connected to the curved segments attached to the entrance (placed in step 10).
   
3. Be sure to not delete the entrance track segment or the two curved track segments attached to it (placed in steps 5 & 6).
   
4. Add/Remove whatever freight platforms, storage containers, and other logistics elements that are necessary to get the desired number/type of freight platforms.
   
5. Perform steps 8-11 to complete the updated track.

Where you place signals relative to the outpost depends on several factors, including:

• How you've attached the outpost track to your rail network.
  
• How many trains will be using the outpost.
  
• How long the trains using this station will be.

Although you might not need to add any signals at all to get the behavior you want, you may need to add some number of signals so trains enter and exit the outpost efficiently and don't get blocked.

I typically isolate the outpost by placing signals just inside the platform (at the right end of the track segments used as placeholders for the entrance/exit tracks in Step 2). The signal on the entrance track is always a Block Signal. The type of signal on the exit track depends on where the exit track goes and what signals are already there: If it leads to a roundabout (or some other type of junction) without any other intervening signals, it's a Path Signal, otherwise it's a Block Signal.

Sometimes the game does strange things with placing tracks:

• Segments that appear to be fine are determined to be too short.
  
• You can connect two endpoints fine going in one direction, but from the other direction the game tells you the curve is too sharp.
  
• Tracks that you'd expect to be straight actually have an imperceptible curve at the endpoint so they don't connect the way you want.
  
• You get an error that there is no path to your destination when auto-driving, but you can drive there yourself, manually.

If you run into any of these problems, all I can suggest is to try rebuilding different elements. You may need to make adjustments to the instructions in this guide so that you can make all the track curves/connections if the game starts getting finicky. For the no-path error, sometimes editing the route and/or saving and reloading the game helps.

Thank you for taking the time to look at this guide. If it has been helpful to you, you may find my other guides useful:
https://cs2bus.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2827994017
https://cs2bus.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2842159512
https://cs2bus.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3346733784
If people are finding these guides useful, I'll try to find opportunities to make more of them.