A pair of Southern Pacific AC4400s send a bit of smoke skyward while exiting the east end of the passing siding at Avondale, CO on BNSF's Pueblo Sub. In another 10 or so miles this loaded coal train will exit the BNSF main at NA Junction and continue toward Kansas on UP's former Missouri Pacific Hoisington Sub. I always thought of this operation as Colorado's "other Joint Line". It certainly wasn't as scenic as the actual Joint Line, but it did host a fair amount of volume and variety. By this date UP had controlled SP for all of three months, so not much had changed outwardly. Change was coming however, and UP would cease operation over most of the Hoisington Sub a year or two after the SP merger. Today the former UP trackage between NA Jct and the Kansas border is known as the Towner Line. It has been rehabilitated by Colorado Pacific Railroad with the intent of running grain shuttle trains and handling railcar storage business.
