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.