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.