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.