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.