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.