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.