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.