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.