OH i see you want the instant chain button on the keyboard..lol

Modelling IS time consuming, you can find ways to save little bits of time but ultimately you have to put the time in to achieve what you want.

You could create one link and duplicate it along a curve which you have drawn.
Another way wold be just to duplicate a single link and move it over to the correct position for the second link and then use duplicate with transform or duplicate special to get the rest, but you will still have to work the corners.

I have seen MEL creation scripts for Tank tracks but not for chains that do not have dynamics attatched.