Rail

Minecart Tracks (or Rails) are Non Solid blocks first seen in the First "Seecret Friday Update" to Infdev. The block, like other Non Solid blocks, has 1 sprite and appears as a 2D image in the player's hand. Tracks do not appear anywhere on a natural map. For now, tracks can only be crafted in Infdev, Alpha and Beta mode.

A Track's purpose is to provide a line along which Minecarts can move easily.

The track's texture was changed in the Boo! update.

Crafting
16 track pieces can be crafted from 6 Iron Ingots and 1 Stick, in the pattern below:



Behavior
Tracks next to one another will attach to each other automatically. If two perpendicular track pieces meet, the track connecting them will turn into a curve.

If a track leads up to a 1 block high ledge, the piece placed up against the ledge will turn into a ramp if another track is placed on top of the ledge.

Redstone Torches, Stone Buttons, Levers and Pressure Plates will change the direction of a curved track piece. Since there is no cross section track, this is how the player must have a track system that leads in more than 1 one direction. In rare cases, curved track sections will not change appearance when their direction is changed. If a track switching mechanism seems to be inexplicably broken, test it by running a cart on the track rather than by looking at how the track appears to be oriented. Redstone circuits will not affect normal track blocks or track ramps.

If water flows against a track, it will usually remove it and drop the track as a resource, similar to Torches. Due to a glitch, ramps will simply disappear. Lava will also remove tracks, but the resource will nearly always also be destroyed by falling into the lava.

Collision Glitch
When a cart is traveling on a curve, it will momentarily lose collision prior to exiting the curve. Thus, if a block is placed directly after the curve instead of a track piece, the cart will phase through it. This can be utilized to make minecarts seemingly appear from nothing, by making a hole underneath. It should be noted that since minecarts travel diagonally on curves, it can miss the hole if it has enough speed, by skipping over it, if the hole is 1x1. This can be avoided by blocking the sides. It is not recommended to use this method in rapid succession, as the cart will slow down a lot. Anyone sitting in the cart will likely be subject to suffocation.

South-west Rule
At non-curve track intersections, trains will always travel south or west (as shown in the diagram below). This is commonly referred to as the south-west rule.



This rule also applies to T-intersections, and determine which way the curve from the intersection will face when unpowered. You can use this to orient yourself.



Downhill Rule
At non-curve track intersections trains will always travel downhill if they can. This is known as the downhill rule and overrides the south-west rule



Ramp clearance/one-way effect
A block placed above the track at the downhill end of a ramp will prevent minecarts from traveling down the slope, but not up.
 * In order for a minecart to move down a diagonal tunnel, there must be just as much clearance as a player needs to walk it.
 * This effect can be used to allow minecarts to travel in only one direction, preventing runaway carts from going back into launching mechanisms and jamming them up.



Curve Intersections
If a straight track piece leads to a curve block and isn't attached to the curve, a Minecart will run over the gap and continue to go straight over the curve.



Bug
Since the Beta 1.2 update, placing minecart tracks is slightly bugged and occasionally tracks won't join up the way they should to make a complete circuit or line.