Animating a Train with Elegance?

[Claudio Branch]

I am looking for a solution/tutorial for animating a train along a spline.

 

Preferably, I would be able to build my train of any length with a library of engines and rail cars. After the train is complete, I basically want the cars to follow the engine along a spline atop the track.

 

I can do all of this so far...

 

My problem now is getting my rail cars to take the turns with the engine instead of following in a straight line. I have tried linking them and using IK to establish pin connections between the cars, but I am still not getting it right.

 

Max's built in user help and tutorials haven't got me out of the woods either.

 

I have animated a train before for a brief animation clip using dumb brute force - (path constrain car to spline, create instance, adjust % of path travel, repeat) - I want a more elegant, long term solution.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Tommy L]

oh, im about to do just the same thing (for the 'L' in chicago) so ill be watching this as ive never used IK.