What WE WILL LOSE when UKTS closes

The closure of UKTS will have a massive effect on the UK train simulator community - UKTS is currently the largest repository of downloadable freeware assets for our hobby.

No matter which route you like, every route has a massive dependency of many, many inter-connected assets to be able run - when these assets are suddenly taken away, the vast majority of what we currently have will cease to run.

The purpose of this topic is to list, as far as possible, the existing MSTS/OR assets we will LOSE FOREVER, when UKTS closes. Other simulators are excluded from this topic.

The loss of the following assets will impact virtually all existing Activities included with existing routes or separate stand-alone Activity Packs released over the years, due to required stock suddenly becoming unavailable.

The greatest obstacle to re-homing MSTS/OR assets from UKTS to 'other sites', is that many of the original authors have either left the hobby, or have passed away, thereby preventing permissions to host other than at UKTS.

I'll kick off with the most obvious loss of assets, starting in the post below :

Skipton 1920 CD (and its associated UKTS download files) - released by the late Pat Dalton. Pat was the first author to supply a fully co-ordinated comprehensive stock pack as part of his route release. At its time of initial release it was a genuine game-changer for our hobby. Over the years many of the earlier 'basic' models were replaced by higher quality, more detailed stock (mostly by Ian Macmillan - see separate comments). As well as the LOSS of an outstanding route, we will LOSE the largest freeware library of MR locomotives, carriages and wagons for MSTS/OR available today. Pat is unable to provide permission for his models to be hosted other than UKTS.

LMS CD (and its associated UKTS download files) - compiled by the late Pat Dalton. After releasing Skipton 1920, Pat turned his talents to building a fully co-ordinated comprehensive LMS stock pack, by compiling models built by a number of separate authors, with their individual permissions. Again, this was a game-changing release, and again, many models were replaced by higher quality, more detailed models. We will LOSE the largest freeware library of LMS locomotives, carriages and wagons for MSTS/OR available today. Most of the original authors have either left the hobby or passed away, so unable to provide permission for models to be hosted other than UKTS.

Ian Macmillan - Ian became what is unquestionably, 'The Wagonmaster'. His contribution to the hobby was releasing 100's (maybe even over 1000) highly-detailed wagon models. His skills were amazing - many of his more recent models replaced earlier models in the Skipton 1920 CD and the LMS CD. Some seven years ago Ian confided in me that he was diagnosed with a common aged medical condition - without revealing that condition, the life expectancy was 5 to 10 years. As Ian has been un-contactable since mid-2020, and lived alone, with no-one to confirm his existence, we have to presume that he has passed away. Therefore under copyright conditions Ian is unable to provide permission for his models to be hosted other than UKTS.

Other info will be release as it comes to hand