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.