Schrödinger's Railroad Train

I go to this website often, being able to subscribe due to my previous employer, and to the years I spent making small rocks out of big ones - in this AREA #57 out of boulderous limestones. (American Railroad Engineering Association; ballast rock sizing 57)

My younger brother, God rest his soul, was more a fancier of lake vessels.

In the spring of 2014, we sat together at a scenic lookout in Port Huron just south of the USCG ship Bramble, and we were gazing across the river to Sarnia, Ontario or Point Edward, Ontario... never sure where the boundary was.

Anyway, there were two Canadian Steamship vessels which had wintered there in a slip just south of the fishery. One of the vessel had the normal lakes configuration of bridge in the bow and motors, stack, engineering, etc. in the stern. It had a clear, open deck. It was the most westerly vessel.
The other vessel was configured that all superstructure was in the stern, the bridge and all, with a self-unloading conveyor stretching forward.

What was amazing was that the angle at which we viewed things, the two boats looked to be exactly only one vessel! A vessel over-bridged, as it were, a bridge in the bows and a bridge in the stern!
As the minutes wore on, I strained more and more to try and disambiguate the vision. I mentioned it to my brother, and he noticed it, too.

CSL (Canadian Steamship Lines)  Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin

This was not the first time I had gazed at that spot. I remember a day earlier in the winter when the sun disappeared early and the lights came on the vessel with the clear deck, and I watched them twinkle in the darkling evening.

The other boat seems to have come later, possibly early in the spring. Else, I would have noticed the strange effect before.

That's not to say that Railroads are not without their enchanting visions!
I remember sitting on train A at rest, all the while Albert Einstein was on train B moving past us at a good clip, and for all the world, I thought my train was moving!!!

Schrödinger's Train, eh?

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