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.