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.