Future status of UKTS

[trainmad]

It's a shame to hear the site is closing. It's been something in my life since 2002.

There is a hugh amount of content that will be lost. Hopefully some kind of solution can be found to keep it online - currently I'm paying the monthly subscription and am quite happy to do that for the amount of useful rolling stock, scenary and routes it gets you.

It is mostly MSTS content but most, if not all, is compatible with OpenRails which over the last few months I've been really enjoying and has breathed life into Train Simulation for me again.

[bigvern]

Just wanted to point you to Simtogether - a Dutch site but that is fully available in English too. Their download site has categories for all countries, and also has a MSTS/Openrails section. They want to become a one-stop shop site for all simulators and countries. Whether they will succeed is another matter, but as a matter of principle I would expect them to welcome most if not all content currently available on UKTS.

https://simtogether.com/

It's a possibility but at this point also important to remember how UKTS came about in the first place. It was born out of the failure of Tim Booth's Trainsimfiles site which even back in the early days of MSTS got overwhelmed by excessive bandwidth costs. Well intentioned but unless a replacement host has measures in place to fund an operation on the scale of UKTS, we will just end up back at square one. There's also the issue of dependencies, more so for TSC stuff as there is no point in uploading a route over there if assets that required to be obtained separately here don't follow across. It is, frankly, a potential logistics nightmare.

[jpvdveer]

Good point. The very success of ATS is of course in no small part due to the fact that they were put on a sound financial basis from day one.

I believe Simtogether is currently funded by a store (https://simtogether.com/store/?tab=5), mainly reselling JustTrains and ChrisTrains content. No idea as to whether they are profitable at present. but it may be worth further considering them.

[rufuskins]

I still believe that those who are still working with MSTS and/or OR should seriously consider uploading their content to Train Sim Safe House (TSSH). As noted earlier I have done exactly this.

[moranb]

It was also with great sadness that I read the notice from Matt that UKTrainsim is to be closed down from the end of August next. As a longstanding member (joined in 2004), UKTrainsim (and this forum) was my goto place when I needed help or advice in developing route building skills. And when I developed some level of competence, it was always a pleasure to pass on whatever wisdom I had gained to anyone seeking assistance.

Like many others , I started route building with MSTS route editor and using Trainsimfiles tracks, built a route titled the Kerry Railways. In retrospect, it was a very amateur effort, but I learned how to build scenery and rolling stock with GMAX. (I can see it is still available - I must download it myself as it has long disappeared from my computer!). Feeling like a traitor, I switched to Railworks when that simulator was launched in 2008, mainly at the time because of the ease of routebuilding with that simulator. I smile to myself when I think of the Challenge 'competitions' promoted by Geoff Potter (Acorncomputer) on UKTrainsim in the early years of Railworks as we builders posted our progress reports on this forum and checked to see how our competitors were doing. All those routes were built in one week! (By comparison, my Dublin to Cork route took almost six years to build and the Dublin to Rosslare Harbour route I am still working on began as the Dublin DART system some five years ago and still has a long way to go).

In truth, with the increasing sophistication of simulators, people like me (in my late 70s) who both enjoy running and building routes are being left behind. My son scarcely ever plays TSClassic, much preferring Train Sim World. There is no room for amateur builders for these new simulators and for me building and running my own routes was - and still is - a major part of the enjoyment of TSC. It is probably the reason also why sites like UKTrainsim are no longer very relevant to the new players of Train SimWorld.

I am not sure what can be done to rescue the thousands of assets, routes and scenarios on this site. I am aware that at least some of my routes are available on other trainsim sites - treinpunt.nl is one of them, but how long more those will last is another issue.

Anyway, thank you UKTrainsim and to all the contributors over the last 20 years.

Brendan Moran

[scampispeedway]

Can I add my sadness at the proposed closure of the site, it was back in 2006 a great help to me getting started with Train Simulation and I've stuck with MSTS
since it was an easy one to operate.
Luckily I've loads of Files which I've downloaded over the years which along with the Routes I've not looked at yet and will keep me going for several years yet.

Bob

[jkk454]

I've not played TS in years, nor ever got into TSW. I'm 28 now, but I played Railworks in my mid teens and signed onto this forum. People were always very helpful on giving route feedback on my early attempts, as well as offering good technical support. This is sad and a real sense of loss.

Is any explanation given? I'm assuming its likely to due with rising server/hosting costs?

[glasgowworks]

I've not played TS in years, nor ever got into TSW. I'm 28 now, but I played Railworks in my mid teens and signed onto this forum. People were always very helpful on giving route feedback on my early attempts, as well as offering good technical support. This is sad and a real sense of loss.

Is any explanation given? I'm assuming its likely to due with rising server/hosting costs?

I think it is to do with rising costs, especially in this economic climate (the dreaded 'Cost of Living' we all know), plus the popularity of UKTS has decreased in recent years. Even posting my screenshots on this forum has suffered recently because of being such a quiet website.

Perhaps Matt or Pete can explain the reason further.

Alistair Cowell