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.