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.