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.