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.