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.