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.