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.