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.