Copying object along the path - Caterpillar tracks effect

[oldbunyip]

Is to possible at all to copy/distribute an object along the path in Illustrator 10 or CS? Doing this along a perfect circle is quite easy, but this time I have the rectangle shape with rounded corners. I need this to create a caterpillar tracks for some illustration. Some people advise that Blend tool and art brush can help in this case. Art brush (made out from small squares) can be partially helpful, although the final effect is far from perfect. Couldn't figure it out when it comes to Blend tool.
Cheers

[The Repro Kid]

The screen shot below shows some possibilities, none of them used the blend tool however.

The stepping stones receding into the background were done with the Scale Tool. Draw a vanishing point set-up and scale the front object using the vanishing point as the scale point of origin. Make sure to hold down the option key while scaling to copy the object. Use command-D to duplicate the maneuver, adding the rest of the objects.

The railroad tracks are just one single line pasted on top of itself 6 times. The first and last lines are dashed and the rest are solid. The bottom line is the fattest and the top line is the thinnest. Layer two shows the construction line(s) used and layer one shows the art preview.

Both the railroad tracks and the scale-tool perspective are drawn following adobe's own tutorials from the Illustrator 5.0 manuals, so you may be able to find some tutorials on these techniques, they've been around for a while.

[oldbunyip]

Hi Repro Kid,

Thanks for your reply. Actually, pattern brush is THE tool. Never used it before, but after suggestion from the other forum's member I realize that this brush is exactly what I'm looking for...
Cheers