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.