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.