Deltas and Valley Railway

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The Deltas and Valley Railway (D&V) is a minimally‐automated rail network located in the Nether, originally crafted to link Roam’s portal in the basalt deltas with that of the village of Intersylva in a neighboring soul sand valley. Fully protected from mob spawning and intrusion, it allows fast travel between all portals, with selected points of interest local to the Nether due to be added.


Network map

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General plan and scope

Main lines (shown in red on the map) run in the four cardinal directions along the Spawn axes, with branches (in orange) diverging to serve stations elsewhere. While diagonal runs of track would allow higher speed thanks to double‐chording, the D&V already enjoys vast savings in travel time compared to the Overworld, so they aren’t essential. (Do you know?: Carts in the Nether can reach an Overworld‐equivalent top speed of 64 m/s, or 230.4 km/h, per axis!) Instead, simple 90° turns are used, which keeps the tunnels and tubes relatively compact – minimizing the need for additional spawn‐proofing – and simplifies constructionnote 1, a valuable trade‐off given the risks of working in the Nether. In addition to the tight turns, the interior is built just large enough to walk through, except at stations and junctions where more space is required.

Roam is currently the D&V’s only hub, though other interchanges are expected to be added as required by future growth. Generally, new stations are connected directly to their nearest main line by a new branch, but minor stations may simply extend from a nearby station as a cost‐saving measure. The system is mostly built at Y=64, though since portals are linked to the Overworld at as close to the correct Y‐coordinate as possible, stations may be located well above or below the rest of the network.

This system is intended only for passenger use, with 32 m between powered rails on long straights – enough to keep an occupied cart at top speed, but not an empty or utility cart. More power is provided at stations and junctions for nearly‐instant acceleration. The network’s main purpose is as a “Nether hub,” providing fast travel from portal to portal – even the ones that have no real points of interest on the Overworld side and are more jumping‐off points than destinations in and of themselves. Non‐portal stations, e.g. at nether fortresses, are proposed for inclusion as well. Some consideration is to be taken in establishing new portals as the world is explored – for example, a village is a good location for a portal, but not every village may need one – as, long‐term, the D&V is to be the express counterpart to a future Overworld railway that will offer more thorough (and scenic) coverage at the expense of travel time.

While the D&V is an entirely closed system, it is planned to upgrade all stations to include safe exits into the nether cavern along with respawn anchors. The new, permanent hub at Roam was the first station to open with these amenities. On the Overworld side, shelters are already availablenote 2 to prevent ambush when returning at night.


This project heavily uses nether bricks, iron bars, blackstone, warped “wood,” and glowstone. The vast majority consists of ten‐meter segments, linked by rings of polished blackstone where lighting and power are provided.

Looking from the railway tunnel into a basalt deltas with some magma cubes. The tunnel’s floor and ceiling are made of nether brick and the walls of iron bars, with a ring of polished blackstone every ten meters. The nearest ring has a warped wood sign on the wall and redstone lamps in the floor.
“Outdoor” sections are secured with iron bars, resistant to errant fireballs while still providing some pretty cool hot scenic views. Short enclosed sections, as well as any small spots where the terrain gets too close, are instead lined with polished blackstone brick walls.
An enclosed portion of the tunnel. The ceiling here is blackstone bricks, and warped wood fencing lines the netherrack walls, linked by warped stems to the blackstone rings.
Longer underground sections use plenty of warped stems and fences, with completely enclosed segments getting a ceiling of polished blackstone brick.
End of the line with a nether portal backlit by lava through glass. Next to it is a banner meant to depict an end portal along with a sign reading “Stronghold, +313 E, −1,514 N.”
Portals are signed with their destination and target Overworld coordinates. This station, for the first discovered stronghold, is an exception to the usual design palette due to its location beneath the lava sea…
The top of a corkscrew of track descending counter‐clockwise.
…which called for a vertical shaft from Y=64, since that much lava complicates the construction of a more conventional ramp. Westbound carts spiral upwards, while eastbound carts bypass it by simply dropping down the center. (+28 E / −189 N), looking northeast.
Station at Intersylva.
Stations are designed such that an incoming cart comes to a stop on an inclined piece of inactive powered rail. When departing again, the push of a button activates the rail and sends the player on their way. (−274 W / +184 S), looking southeast.

Usually I prefer my rail junctions more rider‐friendly, even automated, but at least for now, most redstone in the Nether is going to stay relatively compact and less breakable.

A junction with signs pointing towards Spawn (ahead), Intersylva (right), and Spiders (behind). A lever controls the switch and there are detector rails visible farther along the track. Another sign on the wall reads “−W1928R”.
Here, the inner detector deactivates the powered rails next to it just long enough for the cart to stop completely, allowing you time to check your switch but quickly getting you back to full speed when you push off. (Credit to teunu for the idea.) Both detectors also trigger note blocks as a heads‐up. (−276 W / −24 N), looking east.

Roam Station

The current exception to the “keep it simple” rule is the new, permanent Roam Station, which while still spawn‐proof is built a little grander than the rest of the system.

View of Roam Station from the landing halfway up its stairs.
Like the vault at home, it appears to be carved right out of its surroundings and polished up with care. (Brand new deepslate bricks have been imported from the Overworld to substitute for polished basalt in the floor and ceiling, as I felt the end texture clashed with the rest of the design.) (−30 W / −17 N), looking northeast.

Complicated and breakable or not, it features a user‐friendly CARTS unit for route selection.

The boarding area. The right wall holds a system map; the left has a banner featuring the globe pattern and a sign reading “Roam, −246 W, −180 N”. A cart rests at the end of the track which exits through the left wall. Behind this is a wall of buttons, each labeled with a sign under an indicator lamp. From left to right they read “East for: Village”, “North for: Stronghold”, “West for: Intersylva, Spider Farm”, and “South for: Plains”. The lamp for the South track is lit.
CARTS is capable of performing an astonishing one operation per second! This particular unit is configured with four codependent memory cells boasting one bit of memory each. (−25 W / −19 N), looking east.

The Bromtech‐designed Completely Automated Rail Transit System offers the discerning rider a convenient, one‐touch transportation experience. No more manually thrown levers here: Simply hop in, press the button for your chosen route, and CARTS does the rest, whisking you off onto the iron highway while setting the switches ahead of you.

The switching room with tracks leading in various directions.
The switching room may look complicated, but it’s really not. (−32 W / −18 N), looking north.
The previous screenshot annotated with directional arrows and labels for each track.
Outbound carts circle the golden Spawn marker on the CARTS‐controlled inner track, which contains the three actual switches in the room. Inbound carts are passively directed around the outer track for return to the station.

Roam is also the first station to include a proper exit out into the Nether cavern!

An iron door next to a button, a fully charged respawn anchor, and a sign reading “got gold?”
(−29 W / −20 N), looking south.

Trivia

  • The note blocks at the junction play the electric piano (instrument: pling), sounding an F4 (note: 11) and an A4 (note: 16) on arrival and the reverse on departure.
  • All signs use glow ink, with navigational/informational signs in light gray and number plates in light blue.
  • Key points throughout the system, such as boosters and junctions, are identified by number plates, usually on the adjacent wall. These plates carry quite a lot of information that you’ll probably never need! For example, Intersylva station is located at −A1672.
    • The prefix is a line ID:
      • Nether lines all carry a minus sign. Overworld lines will be identified by letters only, and if rails are ever needed in the End, those lines will use a plus sign.
      • The letters N, S, E, and W are reserved for the cardinal main lines heading those directions from Roam. Other lines are lettered in order of construction – so line −A was the first branch added in the Nether.
    • The number, 1672 in our example, is simply the rail distance down that line, always measured away from Roam and in Overworld‐equivalent meters. Branches count from their junction with the main line; main lines count from Spawn itself.
    • Like torches in a cave, number plates are placed following the navigation principle of “left to the depths; right to the light” – that is, when traveling away from Roam, they’re found on the left side; returning inbound, they’re on the right.
      • Indeed, everything follows this rule when possible, including other signs and banners. Even the hidden note blocks let you navigate by ear!
      • Sometimes, there’s just no room on the correct side. When this happens, a trailing R is added to indicate the plate is on the reverse side: For example, the junction where line −A begins is located at −W1928R: On the Nether’s west main line, 1,928 Overworld‐meters from Spawn.