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.