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.