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.