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.