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.