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.