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.