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.