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.