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.