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.