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.