BTW, here's how the animation works.
As you can see, the proton torpedo is really a long stream of proton torpedos. They are separated by several slanted 3ds plates that look exactly like the far wall of the trench. They hide the proton blasts until the train goes directly overhead. For a brief second, the blast is visible. Then, it dissapears just as the next blast becomes visible, giving the illusion of a proton torpedo blasting from the coaster car and hitting the exhaust port.
now, here is how I am doing the animation of the exploding Death Star.
Where you see a black line, picture a flat panel stretching across the track with the following picture sequence.
As the train moves through the tunnel, each image is sequentially viewed for a split second, and it wnds up looking like you are watching the death star explode. It takes alot of 3ds, but it looks really cool.