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.