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.