The train assembly tables appear to be a hangup for most people, so I will try to explain them here.
1. Train Workbench
This is the backbone of the whole thing. This is the proprietary crafting table for trains. All of your sub-assemblies (Wheels, frames, motors) will be constructed here before they can be placed on the different Assembly Tables. Tracks, bridge blocks and the TC generator blocks are also made on this table.
Literally works just like an crafting table. Nothing special about it.
2. Train Assembly Table 1 (Iron Age)
First of three, this guy makes a pretty hefty amount of rolling stock, and a couple respectable trains. These are low-cost, low-capacity and low-power, but they shouldn’t be forgotten or overlooked.due to their small appetites for fuel and decent utility for the beginning survivalist. Locomotives such as the 4-4-0, Shay and Forney are made on this table, and it will also produce the Lava Tank Car (very important), three different cabooses (two with internal crafting tables) and one general-use, 40-bucket tank car among other useful cars. One of the best-looking log cars in the mod is also spawned on this table.
All components for train equipment made here requires gobs of wood and iron.
3. Train Assembly Table 2 (Steel age)
Now you’re getting somewhere. This table is the roundhouse kick of the three tables, as it is the table to make your first-gen Diesels like the American GP7, Soviet ChME3, Czechoslovakian CD742 and British Shunter . This table also creates the Mogul, the BR-01 and the USSR 0-5-0 ‘E’-Type steam locomotives as well as the Japanese C62, . Along with its serious cast of pullers, this table makes a 60-bucket and 70-bucket tank car, larger box cars, the Stock Car, lumber-only freight cars and some cozy passenger cars. The mighty Tracks Builder is also made on this table.
All train equipment made on this table now requires steel parts.
3. Assembly Table 3 (Advanced Age)
This is probably the table you have been wanting to get at all this time. This table is the crown jewel of the three, producing all of the Electric trains, the SD40 and SD70 which are the pullingest of diesels available. Those heavy oil trains won’t mean much to these titans. This table also grants you two 54-slot general-purpose boxcar wagons, and large, luxurious passenger cars to ride around in. Expect these locomotives to get very expensive and very intricate, but they are well worth it.
4. Tables explained
Now that I’ve gone through an overview of all the tables, I’ll address a very common question I get.
“How do I use the assembly tables?”
First off. They’re just glorified crafting tables. They have some funky things about them, sure, but like any other table you’re just piling stuff on it until it spits out a thing. Fortunately these tables are pretty consistent in their layout. Wheels, Frames, Cabs, Chimneys, Boilers, Fireboxes, Motors, Generators and Dyes will ALWAYS go in the same slots.
The only things that change between items are going to be slots 1 (Ingots or wood planks) and 5 (Buckets for tank cars, Chests for boxcars, Fuel type for locomotives). All the others are a component or material that fits a purpose.
One helpful thing I do for myself is to craft a truckload of the common elements. Wheels and frames mostly. I’m not ashamed to bang out full stacks of these as they’re very heavily consumed by these recipes. Make yourself a ton of Iron Wheels and leave them on your Table 1 indefinitely. Then you only need to think about making the boilers and fireboxes when you want a new steam locomotive.
Now is perhaps the coolest function of the tables. They remember your recipes! So if you’ve made a Shay on Table 1, It knows how to make it again. Keep in mind this is tied to Player Data and is subject to change in the event of a hard crash.
Despite all my playing with it, I can’t figure out the purpose of this. It does not seem to do anything at this time.
MineCraft Trainman's Guide 