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.