@stan2004 posted:If you are willing to DIY, consider ultrasonic misting "technology" popularized by Aromatherapy essential oil diffusers. There are thousands of different models out there starting around $10. Here's a short video showing one in action. A nice feature of the retail diffuser units is they shut off when the liquid runs out; too bad our trains don't have this feature!
In an earlier OGR thread I show the misting transducer at the heart of these widgets. There is NO heater to melt the walls of a plastic structure. The transducer is generating a mist, not steam! If you're willing to work at this level of DIY, the electronics and transducer are maybe $5.
It's kind of neat how such a thin transducer can blast a stream of mist with enough momentum to climb a tube (e.g., chimney, smokestack). No need for a fan motor as used in many train smoke units.
Now let's see you generate chuffing smoke in the space allocated for the traditional smoke unit in a locomotive and we can talk.