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.