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.