Ken Lively photos

[Richard Lively]

I have a feeling this might be a wild goose chase, but worth a shot.

I’ve been in contact with Kenneth Lively’s daughter concerning photos that Ken’s dad took over the years. The Friends have a substantial collection of these, of course. However, they did mention that they had some photos that they loaned out for copies for promotional material for a new narrow gauge line. The recipient was friends with Ken and his dad, and apparently was given the original typewriter from the Cumbres station and the old gas pump from Ken’s first gas station. They transferred the photos when they met with the person and his brother Bob in South Fork, Colorado. They believed the railroad would be out of South Fork. However, more details point to this being the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad from Alamosa to La Veta, which was standard gauge. They referred to the demise of the railroad in recent years, so that seems a likely candidate.

Since the family moved over the past few years, they have lost contact with the person, who may have been trying to return the photos. They are in somewhat declining health, so I agreed to pursue the investigation in the hopes we would re-establish contact and possibly get the photos returned and put in a suitable collection. My guess is that since their interest was promotional for that specific line, there may have been some photos of the family’s time at La Veta Pass Depot (now Fir) in the early 1900s.

If this triggered any memories, I would greatly appreciate any leads. Ken’s daughter is a little distraught that they lost possession of the photos and my probing for family historical photos probably didn’t help. But they recently visited Cumbres Pass and saw the display at the station and were quite pleased to see some of CR’s photos displayed for the public.

Rick Lively

[Tom Casper]

Richard. You maybe talking about Bob Shank Jr as he started the South Fork Scenic

[Richard Lively]

Thank you so much, Tom. This is exactly what I was hoping for.

[Richard Lively]

Now just need to get the parties in contact. If anyone has a current email for Don or Bob Shank, feel free to PM me. Or I can provide my email in response to a PM. The family would be thrilled to find out the status of the photos.

[Tom Casper]

Richard, not sure who on this board would keep up with the Shanks but you might think about posting on the NGDF (narrow gauge discussion forum) for help as more eyes wont hurt. Plus, keep us up to date on your search if you learn anything.

Tom C.