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.