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.