Hi Andrew,
The Lenz Gold works beautifully in the new FLM 5-pole skew wound tender drive models. Got one in a BR 03, and a BR 41. I too was worried about the potential motor current of running an N Guage decoder in an HO model. But as the model is designed with a 6-pin NEM socket, and the guy in the shop said it would be fine I tried it. Not had any problems, perfectly silent from ridiculously slow crawl upto a decent maximum speed, had them both pulling 18 coal wagons, or 6 liliput coaches up inclines without any problem.
Never tried Fleischmann or Lenz Gold before, and am very impressed. Shame they've just got bought by Modelleisenbahn (Roco), and the Germany factory has closed. Tried a Bachmann/ESU decoder, and the slow crawl is definitely noisier, but just as slow. Might not be the case on the more expensive ESUs, but I've never tried them, nor the TCS or Zimos, which are all well regarded.
If you don't need the extra features, the Lenz Silver is a few pounds cheaper, and is just as good.
Cheers,
Mike.
