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.