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.