Stork Pays Second Visit
Railbelt Reporter
January-February 1963






The first indication that the stork was about to pay another visit to an Alaskan Railroad train came when George Gale, operator at Healy, received a frantic call from the mines early on the morning of January 30.  He was requested to hold No. 8 at Healy until Mrs. Gwen Jensen arrived in the "doodle bug."  Mrs. Jensen was about to have a baby and wanted to get to Fairbanks.

When No. 8 arrived, and George told Conductor J.R. Sherwood and Ben Silbernagel that they would probably have to usher a baby into the world, their reply was, "Boy, that's entirely out of our department."

Said George, "Boys, it will soon be in your department, for it will be out of my department when this train leaves Healy."

Fortunately, Mrs. Linden Cox and Mrs. Phil Hertz of Healy boarded the train for a trip to Fairbanks.  This greatly relieved the tension around the Healy depot, and the train got underway.

Already aboard was Mrs. Leroy Curruth of McKinley Park, who volunteered to help when she heard of the emergency.

With Mrs. Curruth, Mrs. Cox, and Mrs. hertz in attendance, Mrs. Jensen gave birth to a boy at 7:11 a.m.  The train was near Berg (Mile 420.4), about 50 miles out of Fairbanks.

The stork first visited the ARR a number of years ago when a woman gave birth to a child on the Seward-Anchorage train.  The conductor was Kenneth Porter.
 
 

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