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.