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.