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.