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.