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.