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.