Getting started
- On Layouts, either create a blank layout (optionally with your table size, so you can see whether it fits), or generate a basic oval that fits a size you give: a quick, closed starting point.
- Open the layout and add pieces one at a time with Add a piece. Pieces join on to the end of the track, in the order a car drives it. Curves need a direction (left or right, as the driver sees it).
- Keep going until the status says ✓ Loop is closed: the track has come back to the start line, facing the same way, at the same height.
- Check the parts list at the bottom of the page.
Private layouts: tick Private when creating a layout, or use Make private (unlisted) on its page, to keep it out of the layout lists (here and for an AI using MCP). A private layout never appears in any list on this site, so bookmark it. There are no logins, so it's unlisted rather than locked: anyone with its link can still open it.
Sharing: every layout's address uses a random code (not a number), so nobody can find a layout by guessing. To send one to someone, use Share by email on its page: enter their address, and optionally your name and a message, and we'll email them the link. You can also just copy the link. To stop the form being misused, each visitor can share up to 5 layouts an hour.
Made a mistake? Remove last piece takes the most recent piece off the end. The Parts Catalog lists every piece with its Carrera part number and which product line (Digital 132, Evolution or both) it belongs to.
The layout page
- Status messages
- Whether the loop closes (and by how much it misses if not), whether it fits your table, and warnings: slopes that are too steep, or places where the track runs into itself.
- Plan
- A top-down drawing of the real parts: track, slots, centre line, a joint line between every piece, kerbed shoulders and the pit lane. Pieces are numbered in driving order. Raised sections are drawn on top, with a shadow.
- 3D view
- Drag to rotate, right-drag (or two fingers) to move, scroll to zoom. Height × exaggerates hills so they're easy to see; Reset view and Top-down jump to set views. Hover over a piece to see its height and gradient. Each grid square is one standard straight (345mm).
- Elevation profile
- The height of the track all the way round one lap, from the start line back to it. Steep pieces are amber; red shading marks places where the track runs into itself.
- Pieces on track
- Every piece with its length, gradient, shoulders and height, where you can type a height for any single piece.
Selecting pieces
Click a piece on the plan, the 3D view, the elevation profile or the pieces table; it's highlighted in all of them.
- Click selects one piece (click it again to clear it).
- Shift + click selects every piece from the last one you clicked.
- ⌘ + click on a Mac, or Ctrl + click on Windows, adds or removes one piece.
- Esc clears the selection.
The Selected pieces panel shows what you've selected: for one piece, its Carrera part number, size, which way it turns, its height at each end (and whether that was set on it or carried on from the piece before), gradient, shoulders, any end pieces fitted to it and any problems; for several, a short table. It then lets you change their height or shoulders. After you apply a change, the same pieces stay selected.
Heights, hills and crossings
Heights are in millimetres above the table. Whether you raise track on supports or lift part of the table itself, the designer just needs the height. A piece's height is the height of its end; the track slopes evenly along it. Pieces you don't set stay at whatever height the track is already at.
- Raise section (adds ramps) is the easy way: select a run of pieces, enter a height and the steepest slope you want (10% is a gentle default), and the designer puts those pieces at that height along their whole length, then slopes the track up before them and back down after them. If the ramp has to pass the start line, the start line's height is moved to match.
- Set end height only and Clear heights change just the selected pieces, for fine-tuning.
- Slopes steeper than 15% are flagged: cars may lose grip or come out of the slot.
- The Fly-over piece is a real Carrera bridge set (4 sections, with its supports) that rises and comes back down by itself, so one part of the track can cross over another.
When the track crosses itself, there must be at least 60mm between the two levels for a car to pass underneath; otherwise the layout is flagged as running into itself, with buttons to select either side. Select the side that should go over and use Raise section. (The flat "Crossing" piece swaps the two lanes within one track; it isn't a way for two tracks to cross.)
Pit lane
The Pit Lane set takes up three track lengths (1035mm) of the main track. A single-lane pit lane branches off over the first 345mm, runs alongside, and rejoins over the last 345mm. Each Pit Lane Extension placed next to it makes the pit lane 345mm longer; the parts list adds the standard straight the main track needs alongside it.
The pit lane goes on the inside of the loop unless you choose a direction when adding the pit piece: that's the side the pit lane is on. It's shown in the plan and the 3D view. Pit lanes are Digital 132 only.
Shoulders
Shoulders are the borders along the track's edges, with red and white kerbs. Every piece Carrera makes a shoulder part for gets them on both sides by default, and they're added to the parts list automatically.
To leave a side open, for example where two stretches of track run side by side, select the pieces and use Shoulders in the Selected pieces panel: both sides, left only, right only, none, or back to the catalog default. Left and right are as the driver sees them. Pieces Carrera makes no shoulder part for can't be given one.
The parts list also adds the small end and connecting pieces wherever a border stops or changes, side by side along the track: an end piece where a bend's outer shoulder or a straight's shoulder stops with no shoulder after it (20020598), an end piece where a high banked curve's inner edge stops (20020599), and a connecting piece where a banked curve's inner edge meets an ordinary shoulder (20020600). A border that carries on into another shoulder needs nothing extra. They're drawn on the plan where they go; hover over one to see its part number. Every curve shoulder pack comes with 2 end pieces, so those are used first and separate end-piece packs are only listed for any shortfall. Carrera doesn't make an end piece of its own for straight shoulders, so they're finished with the same 20020598 end piece.
Accessories & scenery
Dress a layout with Carrera's grandstands, control and press towers, pit garages, the Carrera Bridge arch, a footbridge, tyre stacks, figures and guard rails. On the layout page, choose one under Accessories & scenery, click Place on the plan, then click where it goes. Everything is drawn at its real size, and shows in the 3D view at its real height.
- Move an item by dragging it on the plan; turn it 15° at a time with ↺ ↻, or remove it with ✕.
- Anything that ends up on the track is outlined in red so you can drag it clear. Bridges are meant to go over the track, so they're fine.
- Some items can't be placed on their own, like guard rails (sold by length), add-on storeys and grandstand figures: use Add to parts list for those, with how many you want.
- Everything you add appears in the parts list under Accessories & scenery, in Carrera's packs (tyre stacks come six to a pack).
The Parts Catalog lists every accessory with its part number and size.
Parts list
The bottom of every layout lists the track pieces and the shoulders you need, with Carrera part numbers. Carrera sells most parts in packs, so you get both the number of pieces needed and the number of packs to buy. Prices are rough estimates only, so always check current prices and availability before ordering.
Using it with an AI (MCP)
The designer is also an MCP server (version 0.12.0), so an AI assistant such as Claude can design layouts for you. You describe what you want and it does the work, using the same layouts you see here.
Claude (claude.ai and Claude Desktop)
Add the designer as a custom connector: in Claude open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, give it a name such as "Track designer" and paste this address:
https://track-designer.my-slot-car-track.uk/mcp/track-designerNo sign-in is needed. Then turn the connector on in a chat (the tools menu under the message box) and ask away.
Claude Code and other AI apps
Anything that connects to MCP servers over HTTP can use the same address. For Claude Code:
claude mcp add --transport http track-designer https://track-designer.my-slot-car-track.uk/mcp/track-designerThe AI refers to each layout by the code at the end of its link, so you can paste a layout's link into the chat to work on it. Anyone with a layout's link can change it, through the AI or on this site, so only share links with people you trust.
Things to ask
- "Design a closed Carrera Digital 132 layout that fits on a 3m × 2m table, with a lane change and a pit lane, then give me the parts list."
- "In my layout https://track-designer.my-slot-car-track.uk/track-designer/aB3dE5fG7hJ9kL1mN3pQ, fix the place where the track crosses itself by raising the bridge side to 80mm." (paste your layout's own link)
- "Show me the plan and the elevation profile of the layout you just made."
- "Take the shoulders off the inside of pieces 10 to 14."
Tools the AI can use
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
list_track_pieces | Lists the Carrera track piece catalog, optionally filtered by category or product line (Digital 132 / Evolution). Use this first to see what pieces exist before adding them to a layout. peak_height_mm is set for pieces with a built-in rise (the fly-over climbs to it mid-way and returns to its entry height); fixed_direction is set for pieces that always turn one way (the curved lane-changers), which need no direction argument. Pieces with is_placeable=false (category "shoulder") are border/edge accessories — they attach automatically to matching curves/straights already in a layout and show up in generate_parts_list, so never pass them to add_piece_to_layout. |
create_layout | Creates a new, empty track layout. Optionally set a maximum width/height (in mm) as a design constraint that other tools will check against. Use add_piece_to_layout afterwards to build it up piece by piece. |
add_piece_to_layout | Appends one piece to the end of a layout's track, in the order the car would drive it. Curves and the hairpin require a direction (left or right, from the driver's point of view). Optionally set elevation_mm to raise or lower the track by the end of this piece. Returns the updated geometry so you can see immediately whether the loop is closed and whether it still fits within any configured max size. |
remove_last_piece | Removes the most recently added piece from a layout (undo). Returns the updated geometry. |
get_layout_state | Returns the full current state of a layout: every placed piece with its computed position/heading, whether the loop is closed, and its bounding box. Use this to inspect a layout at any point, e.g. after loading it to continue work. |
validate_layout | Checks whether a layout forms a valid closed loop, fits within its configured max size, and never runs into itself without enough height to pass underneath, with plain-English messages explaining any problems. Call this before finalizing a design. |
generate_parts_list | Generates a shopping/parts list for a layout: `lines` (every placed piece, quantity needed, pack size, packs to buy) plus `accessories` (shoulder/border pieces auto-derived from the pieces used and which sides have shoulders, including end pieces where a border stops and connecting pieces where a banked curve's inner edge meets a shoulder; handed end-piece packs carry a `note` like "3 of one hand, 1 of the other"), with Carrera part numbers and an indicative total price. Always surface the disclaimer to the user. |
generate_basic_oval | Generates a new closed oval layout ("stadium" shape: two straights joined by two semicircular ends) that fits within the given max width/height in mm. Useful as a quick starting point to then refine with add_piece_to_layout, rather than building a loop from scratch piece by piece. |
list_layouts | Lists saved track layouts with their basic metadata and piece counts. Private layouts are never listed: they are only reached by their own id or link. private_hidden says how many were left out. |
delete_layout | Permanently deletes a layout and all of its placed pieces. |
render_layout_svg | Renders a top-down SVG plan of the layout drawn like real Carrera track: dark asphalt at the real width, guide slots between conductor rails, a dashed centre line, a joint line between every section, red/white kerbed shoulders wherever the parts list includes shoulders (with their end and connecting pieces where borders stop or change), lane-changer and crossing slots, the chequered lap-counter line, and the pit lane running alongside the main track. Raised sections are drawn on top with a shadow. Each piece is numbered by position. Top-down only: use render_elevation_profile for heights. Returns raw SVG markup. |
set_piece_elevation | Sets (or clears) the height of an already-placed piece's END joint, in mm above the table (0). The track slopes evenly along the piece from the height it started at. Pass elevation_mm as null to clear it, so the piece stays at the height it started at. Returns the updated layout state, including elevation change and steepest gradient. |
raise_section | Raises (or lowers) a run of consecutive pieces so they sit at elevation_mm along their whole length, and automatically builds the climb on the pieces before and the descent on the pieces after, kept within max_gradient_percent. The usual fix for a clearance conflict: raise the pieces on one side of the crossing (e.g. to 80mm). On a closed loop the ramps may run through the start/finish line, whose height (start_elevation_mm) is then updated to match. Fails with an explanation if there isn't enough track for the ramps. Returns which pieces changed plus the updated layout state. |
render_elevation_profile | Renders a side-on SVG chart of the layout's height (mm) against distance along the track (m) for one lap, from the start/finish line round to it again. The vertical scale is exaggerated so small hills are visible. Pieces steeper than the warning threshold are drawn in amber, and both sides of any place the track runs into itself are shaded red. Hover tooltips give each piece's position, heights and gradient. Use it alongside render_layout_svg (top-down) to show a design with elevation changes. Returns raw SVG markup. |
set_piece_shoulders | Chooses which sides of the given placed pieces have shoulders (the kerbed borders): "both", "left", "right" (from the driver's point of view), "none", or "default" (both sides if Carrera makes a shoulder part for the piece). Use it to leave a side open, e.g. where two stretches of track run side by side or a pit lane joins. The plan drawing and generate_parts_list follow these settings. Pieces Carrera makes no shoulder part for are skipped when turning a side on. In get_layout_state, shoulder_left/shoulder_right null means the default. |
set_layout_privacy | Makes a layout private (left out of layout lists on the website and in list_layouts) or listed again. Private only means unlisted: there are no logins, so anyone with the layout's id or link can still open it. |
list_scenery_items | Lists Carrera accessories and scenery that can be added to a layout: buildings (control tower, press tower, grandstands, pit garage), bridges (the Carrera Bridge arch over the track, a footbridge), tyre stacks, guard rails and figure sets. Each has its part number, pack size, footprint (width_mm across the front × depth_mm) and height_mm (dimensions_estimated where Carrera doesn't publish them), and is_placeable: false for items that can only go on the parts list (guard rails, add-on storeys, grandstand figures). |
add_scenery_to_layout | Adds an accessory (see list_scenery_items) to a layout. Give x_mm and y_mm to place it on the plan: its centre, in the same millimetre coordinates as the track in get_layout_state (the start is at 0,0 heading along +x; +y is to the driver's left at the start), with rotation_deg turning it anticlockwise (0 = its front faces -y). Leave x/y out to just add quantity to the parts list (the only option for items with is_placeable false). Keep buildings and grandstands clear of the track: the result's scenery list flags any that sit on it (on_track). Bridges are meant to span the track. |
move_scenery | Moves and/or rotates an accessory already placed on a layout (its scenery_id is in get_layout_state's scenery list). Give any of x_mm, y_mm (its centre, layout coordinates) and rotation_deg (anticlockwise). |
remove_scenery | Removes an accessory from a layout: a placed one, or a parts-list-only entry (its scenery_id is in get_layout_state's scenery list). |
replace_pieces | Swaps already-placed pieces for a different catalog piece in place, e.g. a STRAIGHT_FULL for a LANE_CHANGE_LEFT, or one curve for a wider one. Each piece keeps its position and its height, so you don't have to remove everything after it. Curves, banked curves and the hairpin keep the old piece's direction unless you pass one (it applies to all the given positions). Shoulder settings are kept unless the new piece has no shoulder part. The track after a changed piece moves to follow the new shape, so check `closed` in the returned layout state. Nothing changes if any position can't take the new piece. |
Privacy
The designer records how it's used, on this site and through MCP, to help improve it: pages viewed, time spent and what's done. Until you accept analytics, that's counted anonymously, with no cookie. If you accept, a cookie lets us recognise your return visits. You can change your choice any time with the Analytics link at the top of the page. Nothing is shared with anyone else.