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.