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.