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.