Build film-ready railways and fully animated trains in minutes—with one flexible, production-ready Geometry Nodes system that adapts to any scene.

Create curve-driven tracks and a multi-wagon train that perfectly follows them, complete with swappable sleepers, clamps, rail profiles, and an optional smoke system.

The 3DT Train & Rail Generator is built for Blender 4, designed for speed, clean topology, and creative control—ideal for cinematics, environment kits, previs, and stylised worlds.

Key Benefits

✔️ One Curve, Total Sync – Generate rails and a train that reads the exact same path for zero hand-alignment.

✔️ Non-Destructive Workflow – Swap profiles, sleepers, clamps, and materials at any time without re-building.
✔️ Production-Ready – Triplanar-friendly mapping, clean material slots, and sensible defaults for fast look-dev.

✔️ Artist-Friendly Controls – Global and per-wagon spacing, direction flips, and auto or keyframed animation.
✔️ Massive Time Savings – Layout kilometres of track, iterate styles, and duplicate wagon blocks in seconds.

What It Does

Quick Start (≈ 2 minutes)

1. Lay a curve for your route. Loops are supported.
2. Add “Rail Tracks” to the provided track object and shape the path in Edit Mode.
3. Duplicate the track object → swap its modifier to “Train Generator.” Now the train uses the identical curve—no alignment guesswork.
   Important: Curve type must match on both systems. If Poly is used, mirror Fillet Count and Fillet Radius.

Key Features

Tracks & Profiles

• Gauge (Rail Separation), Rail Radius, lengthwise Resolution, Auto Smooth Angle
• Profile Object slot with 2 included rail heads + custom profile support
• Flip Normals and Profile Resolution for crisp highlights on tight bends

Sleepers (Planks)

• Scale/Offset per axis, density via Plank Count
• Random Rotation Z and Delete Random + Seed for lived-in variation
• Preview Rotation overlay to debug tangents and orientation

Clamps/Bearings

• Scale, Rotation, Offset controls with symmetric Separation
• Wood and Concrete variants to match era and style
• Subtle randomisation with per-seed variation

Materials & Mapping

• Triplanar-friendly mapping blocks and Object Coordinates to reduce stretching
• Clean material slots for rails, sleepers, and clamps—swap your own shaders anytime

Train Controls

• Auto / Manual Animation (keyframe stations and stops when manual)
• Time Multiplier for global speed (negative reverses direction)
• Global Separation plus per-wagon Translation and Scale
• Switch Direction per block, Scale for gauge adjustments
• Optional Smoke: camera billboard, spawn offset, lifetime, noise, Z-force

Workflow Tips

• Tight corners love more lengthwise Resolution and Profile Resolution for crisp cross-sections.
• If sleepers twist, toggle Preview Rotation and nudge Bezier handles or the random seed.
• Need a new era or gauge? Swap Profile Object, sleeper type, and clamp variant—no curve edits.
• Keep viewports fast with simplified profiles during layout; restore high-fidelity profiles for final renders.

Matching & Troubleshooting

• Drifting on corners: Match curve type (Bezier vs Poly) and, for Poly, the Fillet Count/Radius on both Track and Train.
• Wagons overlap: Increase Global Separation, then fine-tune with per-wagon Translation or Separation Adjustment.
• Clamp misalignment after gauge change: Raise Clamp Separation to mirror Rail Separation.
• Shading artifacts: Increase Profile Resolution and adjust Auto Smooth Angle; flip normals if needed.

What You Get

• Rail Tracks Geometry Nodes group
• Train Generator Geometry Nodes group with locomotive and wagon blocks ready to duplicate
• 2 Rail Profiles, Wood/Concrete Sleepers, and Wood/Concrete Clamps
• Example materials with triplanar-friendly mapping
• Demo file with a ready-to-render scene
• In-Depth Documentation covering setup, parameters, and proven workflows

Why Choose the 3DT Train & Rail Generator?

This is more than a static asset; it is a complete rail-building and train-animation toolkit!

It turns fiddly track alignment and wagon spacing into a fast, fun, fully procedural workflow—perfect from blockout to final render.

Until next time, happy modelling everyone!
Neil – 3D Tudor

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