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.