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.