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.