And of course swapping the ezmates out with kadee metal couplers all together with completely fix that issue. However this usually doesent happen on shorter trains, its usually not an issue on flat layouts and under about 15-20 car trains.

So after looking at my proto GP9(which i assume has the same wiring color code as a GP30) it goes like this,   
      red   >1 orange
    Blue      2 yellow
  white      3 Empty
   gray       4 black
There is also an epty clip on mine but everything is connected properly so im not sure what its for, and as you see the red should be across from the orange or #1.

Yeah, so because of the board not being installed properly(probably at the factory im assuming) it shorted the board causing it to overheat a resistor on it. Now the board or decoder is what creates all the connections, with out either, the locomotives wires are not attached to eachother. so it doesent work, and since the board was smoking, im gonna guess its not doing its job of simply connecting all those connections. so a new board is probably in order, unfortunatly. I have a few of these locos my self, and while they are amazing on the outside, the inside(being the electronics) are not really up to that standard, however mainly for DCC users who have to replace and install resistors to get lighting in it(not fun!) but they do have nice motors and of course look amazing, so its definetly worth the effort.

so I noticed a few things, first, no that isn't a decoder but rather a bunch of resistors for the lights and motor for dc use. Next after watch both videos, I can't seem to see what you took off that was supposedly a decoder?? It looked the same in both videos, neither boards were removed. The only other thing I can suggest is checking all the wires to make sure everythings connected properly, especially the 8 pin plug on the loco with all of the wires running to it as non of those wires are soldered on but rather held in place by plastic clips. Oh and what ever the smoke was comming from is definetly fried, I'm guessing from a short somewhere in the loco possibly.

It just depends on what kind of decoder it has, if it's relatively new(ie, digitrax) then it's fine. Possibly an older decoder might need to replaced because it doesent comply to dcc standards but they should be fine. Plus decoders aren't cheap, so if it works don't fix it:)

I do own a caboose by proto 1 or 2 thousand that came with full interior and lighting, but that's the only one I've ever seen. However rapidos new caboose will have lighting and markers

Well I have one of the steam gennys and haven't noticed to bad of a residue issue, plus rapido claims that their fluid also cleans the track, however I can't tell if it does or not. It is a very nice model though.

Just a few things, by consisting, yes it can mean the whole train but in this purpose it is simply how many and which locomotives are MU'ed together. This is considered consisting in dcc terms. I'm sorry I'm kind of objecting totally to the last post but I noticed one other thing, by changing CVs ABC would have meant changing the speed tables so that both locomotives run the exact same speed, not just the same time, ex; the two locos should run at the same speed at notch 20(or say quarter throttle for non digitrax users) I point this out because there is a huge difference between a simple adress change and speed matching, skill wise and the fact that you can't speed match with an ezcommand throttle.

Was it used? Or could have been used and switched with a dummy. Also did you pay full price or was it cheaper than it should normally be?

Wow that was fast, I thank you both for your help. Anyways, just for the sake of expiriment I think i'll try both methods of powering the cameras.
Jim, I get what your saying about the noise issue and the fact that no, power pickup wont always be perfect which in the cameras case will end up in allot of fuzzy screens cutting in constantly. The cameras says 7.5v max, also ive done a few tests already at 6v's and got nothing. I think ill go with the 5 AA's method as i would much prefer to be able to recharge them easily without the insane expense of new batteries constantly. The cameras, i got from the source for $129.99, they are Home Guardian #4919542. The cameras can be easily unscrewed from their tripods and become perfect for riding on trains. They also have night vision and microphones, plus the picture quality is great.
You also talked about the cameras direction around curves, im planning on somewhat scratch building a car that will disquise the camera somewhat, plus, mount the camera on the king pin of the trucks so that the camera will turn with the direction of the trucks, hence eliviating that camera straight forward problem were all so familiar with.

Hey guys,
Ive got a rather large question, I just bought a pair of wireless security cameras that i am hoping to place on a modified freight car to have a drivers perspective on my layout. Anyways the cameras send the video signal wirelessly but require power from a wall socket. The cameras run at 7.5VDC and 200mA, so im wondering if my DCC rail power can be used to power these cameras making them fully wireless. First I would need a converter(forget what their called) to change the AC track power to DC then, since DCC track power drops with more loads on it, I would need a way to regualte the voltage and power at exactly 7.5VDC and 200mA, that goes to the camera. Now i have no idea what to use for any of these needs, so im hoping some of you electronics experts can help me out with this one. Oh and one more thing that may be important is that the track power never drops below the 7.5v mark.
Tyler

Ok, many questions going on at once. I'll start by pointing out that the quantum controller is for sound control on DC. If you want to run the loco on dcc, then you will need to install a 8 pin decoder into the loco first, and then the sounds can be controlled off of the ezcommand with no need for the quantum controller. You also said something about walk around controls with the ezcommand, well there's 2 ways, 1. You can hook up a bachmann DC controller to the ezcommad and that will create a semi walk around controller, or 2. You can get the ezcompanion that is a completly seperate unit that  can plug into the ezcommad via a special cable that you can buy plug in walk around pannels for so you can move around further.

About the heat from the motor, it is most likely the DC loco on dcc. DC locomotives really don't do well on dcc, this could also be part of the operation issues your having with it.

I've drawn an interpritation of your layout plan on 3rd planit. If you can wait till tomorrow night sometime I'll try to post it on here as I've never done it before. A few notes about the layout, 5 by 9 is not as long a rectangle as you have drawn so space is much more compact. The branch will work however not as long as you've drawn. The yard you've drawn is basically not possible with eztrack however in my plan I've over come this issue and it actually looks quite nice. I've even found an easy way to include a reverse loop on the branch. I'll definetly have to give you my version of your plan, it actually looks quite good, I tried to follow you're plan as close as possible but there's definetly not enough space once you add the proper curves. 

On the cad rail homepage there is a link saying free demo. However upon actually looking at m layout planning software I've just realized that cadrails alright but for your purpose you should get the free demo for 3rd planIT. Similar to cad rail but it's allot easier plus you can select bachmann eztrack and the program has all the dimensions of all the eztrack pieces. Also you can add a train or two to the track and actually run them in a 3d view of the plan. This should help make layout planning much better for you, but I have to add that on the free demos, you can't save , but you can make the layout in the program and then take pictures of it.