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.