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.