Train Spotter's Life List Reaches 10,000 Locomotives, Marriage Reaches Breaking Point

Amateur rail enthusiast Gerald Consist has documented his ten thousandth unique locomotive sighting, a milestone he celebrated alone at a windswept freight crossing in rural Wyoming at 3:47 AM on Saturday while his wife, Diane, slept in their car with the engine running.

'Number ten thousand was a Union Pacific SD70ACe, road number 8829,' Consist said, his eyes gleaming in the headlight of the approaching freight. 'I've been chasing this unit for six years. She runs the Cheyenne-to-Ogden corridor and only comes through here on alternate Tuesdays.'

Diane, who has accompanied her husband on approximately 2,000 of these outings since their marriage in 2009, described the hobby as 'a test of love that I am currently failing.'

'Do you know what it's like to drive four hours to watch a train go past?' she said. 'It takes about nine seconds. Then he writes down the number and we drive home. We have done this every weekend for fifteen years. I have seen every railroad crossing in the Mountain West. They all look the same.'

Consist's meticulously maintained log books, which fill an entire bookshelf in the couple's home, document the date, time, location, weather conditions, and 'general demeanor' of each locomotive observed. Entry 6,447, for instance, notes that a BNSF ES44AC appeared 'sluggish, possibly in need of servicing.'

'You cannot assess the demeanor of a locomotive,' Diane observed.

Consist has acknowledged that the hobby 'places certain demands on a marriage' but maintains that reaching 10,000 was worth the sacrifice. He has already set his sights on 15,000.

'She'll come around,' he said. 'There's a rare Norfolk Southern heritage unit running through Montana next weekend. Very romantic part of the country.'