Tempted to Convert to DCC/Sound?

[RobertInOntario]

I mainly model British outline 00 (quite similar to HO) trains and my current layouts use direct-current. British manufacturers have apparently lagged a few years behind their North American counterparts in terms of adding sound to their locos.

Hornby, one of the major British MRR companies, is now offering more and more locos equipped with sound — the 2010 range of sound-equipped locos looks very tempting!

So far, I’ve decided against DCC mainly because of the cost and because about half of my 30 some odd locos are from the 1960s and ‘70s. DCC also seems very complicated.

I understand that, in order to use the full range of sound options, sound-equipped locos should ideally be run via DCC. A few of my newer locos are already DCC-ready. But I believe it would be too difficult to convert my 1960s Triang and Hornby Dublo locos to DCC.

Just curious to find out what other folks, in similar situations to mine, have done. Have they “shelved” their older locos and switched completely to DCC or have they created two layouts, i.e. one that is DC and one that is DCC?

I also just asked at a LHS how much it would cost to convert a fairly-new loco to DCC and they said it would be close to $200 per loco, which I certainly can’t afford! Also, most new sound-equipped/DCC Hornby locos cost about double the price of what a non-sound loco would cost — again, the cost is really discouraging me.

On the other hand, this new line of sound-equipped DCC locos is still very tempting and I think I should be using 21st century technology rather than 1960s technology! Plus, it would be so cool to control 2-3 locos remotely and to hear the "peep-peep" and chuffing sounds.

Thanks in advance for any feedback or suggestions.

Rob