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.