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.