Hi John;
Ah, nothing like a good DCC system debate to get the juices flowing. If you are
starting from scratch I see no advantage to going straight DC, especially if
you like sound.
I suspect there is nothing wrong with any of the current systems (except
perhaps the Bachmann EZCommand, which is too limited and has no real expansion
capability). A common wisdom is "buy the system most people around you use",
because they generally can help you with problems, bring extra controllers to
operating sessions, etc. Most people in my area use NCE, but I know people with
other systems (even the Bachmann I mentioned above) who are very happy with
them. Since any decoder will work on any system, the only real limitation is is
that you can't swap system parts like throttles and boosters. While the system
you mention is not common in the U.S. (Lenz is somewhat known here), I'd say
you will do fine accepting your dealer's recommendation if you know and trust
him as a supplier.
As you have seen from Don Thompson, S Helper can supply locomotives pre-set
with DCC sound. The other available S equipment does not come with that as a
factory option, although it is possible to have a dealer do the installation
for you for a price. It might be worth checking with a couple of S suppliers
like Hoquat Hobbies, Port Line and 'S'cenery Unlimited to see what they can do
to help. The one advantage of going through one of them would be that might get
all your supplies including track and switches at one source. S Helper is also
great for service, but their track is a bit heavy since it is designed for
Hi-rail wheels and they don't have scale switches you will need. There was a
recent thread on available pre-made track in S you might want to look up in the
archive before deciding on a brand for that.
I hope that helps!
Pieter E. Roos
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