As I've started to slowly lay down track and I'm waiting on some more supplies for that, I took the time to fit DCC decoders to the fleet of older Hornby locos. I'd already completed a decoder install a few months ago on one of the HSTs using a Bachmann decoder, but was a little concerned as to the cost outfitting the remaining locos. I'd read good things about the Hattons 8-pin decoders for £10, so picked some up and found they work just great given how basic the older locos are. This was the fleet after much soldering:
The HSTs are fairly well documented on YouTube for DCC conversion. The Class 91 / Intercity 225 is a little trickier as one of the rail pickups then has a screw carrying the current through the motorblock. I ordered Kadee #58 nylon screws to isolate the motor, then will screw a separate pickup for the decoder straight in to the block. It should work just fine.
The Class 58 was also a little different with how the bogies come off the chassis rather than loco body coming off the chassis, but again, it was a pretty straightforward conversion since there are no lights on the 58001 model. I did put together a rough video of the process since there aren't really any references I could find. Not sure how many folks are trying to convert the old Class 58s, but maybe it helps someone:
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