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.