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.