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.