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.