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.