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.