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.