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.