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.