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.