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.