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.