One of the objects I am having trouble with is a hand rail on a fire scape.   Here is the image and I hand drew the rail...  How best to approach this...   that curve really numbs me out...

Try Steves Art Gallery.
He has some great primitives to download which are ideal for this!

http://stevesartgallery.bryce-alive.net/

oop's....should have visited the site first, these aren't the ones I was thinking of.
Still worth grabbing though!
Sorry, can't remember where to get the one's I mean!

draw it a paint program make it a lattice

This is the site.........http://www.iaw.on.ca/~jspirko/
However, it says they are no longer available as downloads, but he will send them if you email him!

Or you can let me have your email addy, and I will send them!

You could always boolean a turus for the curve and add a cylinder to lengthen!

Use a path and straighten it out and then add a bend at the end.
Make a cube and re size it to fit your specs
In attributes make the cube positive
in attributes/link select parent and use the name of your path as the parent also check the box that says constrain to path
exit attributes.
in multi replicate choose 100 copies -  x offset put 0.05 
multi replicate
select all the boxes.
there is a chain link looking thing two boxes below the attributes select it and G will appear select that.
Congratulations : you have just accomplished multi replicating a cube along a path !!
done.

I'll try it...  hope it works with cylinders....  Thank you.....

a lattice is not flat
a pgm image would be best.just import it.

Tom: You'll find a handrail in my file-locker. Hope it helps.

Tom: Checkout SPACEBONES. He has loads of free objects that I find extremely usefull.

Thank you I did... very nice stuff he has..

Tom, why on earth didn't you just copy and dismantle the Handrail I left?  You would know how it was created then.

Make a positive bryce torus. create two negative bryce blocks and position them to where they intersect 90 degrees of the torus. group and you have the curved section. Rotate and lengthen a bryce cyllinder off each end and you have the rest of the rail. Mirror, rinse, repeat for the other end.

@electro..  Yes,, I got to experiment till I learn to get different curves...

Tom: Send me an e-mail addy would you?

Bryster.. I sent you my e-mail...  but you know that since am a coordinator I have a renderosity site address...  

**electroglyph: ** This is the first time I ever saw that function....

I need to go to an appointment will be right back in two hours or so....