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.