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.