sucking transformer         
                                    
         
                                          
 a  type  of  transformer  (an electrical 
  component) found mainly along railway   
  lines. they're usually mounted halfway  
 between  the  rails   and  the  overhead 
               powerlines.                
                                          
 as  far as  transformers  go, these  are 
 very  big. instead,  not as  many  are 
      needed. among all rail-adjacent     
   artifacts/symbols, they belong to the  
               rarer kind.                
                                          
         
                                          
 the  railpeople  are  in  general   very 
     secretive about their symbols and    
 machines,   so   also   with  the   this 
 transformer.  what  we  know is what  we 
               can observe.               
                                          
 a sucking transformer is  surrounded  by 
 two  signs,   both  around  twenty  four 
 meters  to  each side of  it. tranins do 
 not stop between  these signs during any 
 circumstances  -  if   the   choice   is 
 between halting within, or running  into 
 another train  just outside, they prefer 
                colliding.                
                                          
 water avoids them. in  light  rain,  the 
 ground  closest  to  a transformer stays 
 dry.  a  common  sight  is  a  creek  or 
   stream making a half-circle detour.    
 generally, sucking transformers are not  
 placed  near to larger bodies of  water. 
                                          
         
                                          
 their function for  the rail environment 
 is poorly understood.  they seem to pull 
    in stray fields and electricities.    
     superstition exist that they also    
 affect spirits, gijinkas,  and even  the 
        souls of living creatures.