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.