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.