I've been building a somewhat large rail system and have started adding 3-way and 4-way junctions with redstone buttons to select the next direction and propel the minecart along. But that requires stopping and clicking on a button at each junction.

I've been experimenting with using a trap chest placed a dozen or so blocks before the intersection to allow the player to click on it, correctly set the intersection, and blow through without stopping. Then I began to wonder if there was a way to detect if the player had a specific item in their inventory which would automatically choose the right rail configuration to get them to a destination corresponding to that item. I have a feeling the answer is no but I'd be curious whether this has been tried and if it can be made to work using some other creative solution?

I had reviewed a number of posts but they all involved command blocks and this world currently has no command blocks and we are not looking to start adding them (yet). So I'm looking for a creative vanilla Java (currently 1.14.4) solution which allows making a choice somehow at the hub rail station based on what the ultimate destination will be, and having the junctions be able to configure correctly (left/right) to get the player there. This will obviously tend to make the redstone complex and may not scale well so I'm thinking probably not more than a 5-10 destinations initially. I could make some of those hub stations where the player could manually move to another hub, make another choice, and continue on if needed.

I'm mainly looking for the validation of a concept that might work, not the actual build steps. I'll be happy to share back whatever I actually end up doing though in detail.

Thanks!

I've been building a somewhat large rail system and have started adding 3-way and 4-way junctions with redstone buttons to select the next direction and propel the minecart along. But that requires stopping and clicking on a button at each junction.

I began to wonder if there was a way to detect if the player had a specific item in their inventory which would automatically choose the right rail configuration to get them to a destination corresponding to that item. I have a feeling the answer is no but I'd be curious whether this has been tried and if it can be made to work using some other creative solution?

I understand that this can potentially be accomplished using command blocks, however we are not looking to start adding them (yet). So I'm looking for a creative vanilla Java (currently 1.14.4) solution which allows making a choice somehow at the hub rail station based on what the ultimate destination will be, and having the junctions be able to configure correctly (left/right) to get the player there. This will obviously tend to make the redstone complex and may not scale well so I'm thinking probably not more than a 5-10 destinations initially. I could make some of those hub stations where the player could manually move to another hub, make another choice, and continue on if needed.

I'm mainly looking for the validation of a concept that might work, not the actual build steps.

I've been building a somewhat large rail system and have started adding 3-way and 4-way junctions with redstone buttons to select the next direction and propel the minecart along. But that requires stopping and clicking on a button at each junction.

I've been experimenting with using a trap chest placed a dozen or so blocks before the intersection to allow the player to click on it, correctly set the intersection, and blow through without stopping. Then I began to wonder if there was a way to detect if the player had a specific item in their inventory which would automatically choose the right rail configuration to get them to a destination corresponding to that item. I have a feeling the answer is no but I'd be curious whether this has been tried and if it can be made to work. Thanks!

I've been building a somewhat large rail system and have started adding 3-way and 4-way junctions with redstone buttons to select the next direction and propel the minecart along. But that requires stopping and clicking on a button at each junction.

I've been experimenting with using a trap chest placed a dozen or so blocks before the intersection to allow the player to click on it, correctly set the intersection, and blow through without stopping. Then I began to wonder if there was a way to detect if the player had a specific item in their inventory which would automatically choose the right rail configuration to get them to a destination corresponding to that item. I have a feeling the answer is no but I'd be curious whether this has been tried and if it can be made to work using some other creative solution?

I had reviewed a number of posts but they all involved command blocks and this world currently has no command blocks and we are not looking to start adding them (yet). So I'm looking for a creative vanilla Java (currently 1.14.4) solution which allows making a choice somehow at the hub rail station based on what the ultimate destination will be, and having the junctions be able to configure correctly (left/right) to get the player there. This will obviously tend to make the redstone complex and may not scale well so I'm thinking probably not more than a 5-10 destinations initially. I could make some of those hub stations where the player could manually move to another hub, make another choice, and continue on if needed.

I'm mainly looking for the validation of a concept that might work, not the actual build steps. I'll be happy to share back whatever I actually end up doing though in detail.

Thanks!