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.