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.