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.