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.