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NJ TRANSIT Crew Rescues Lost Dog From Train Tracks

GARFIELD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- There was a happy homecoming for a lost dog that brought a NJ TRANSIT train to a halt during the Tuesday morning commute.

The American Eskimo dog named Sparky ran away from home in Garfield and wound up stuck on the tracks in front of a Hoboken-bound train, CBS 2's Derricke Dennis reported.

The train stopped just short of running over the dog thanks to a quick-thinking crew.

Train engineer John Krawczyk and his team of conductors saw Sparky lying on the tracks on the Bergen County Line in Garfield, stuck between the rails and a bridge joint.

"The dog was very nervous at first, he was scared, you could kind of tell he was out of his norm, his comfort zone," Krawczyk said.

Sparky
From left: kneeling down Student Engineer John Krawczyk, Assistant Conductor Michael Totaro, Conductor Paul Bowen, & Engineer Luis Salinas (credit: Handout)

The crew halted the train and made a quick rescue to the applause of commuters.

"When we came in, they all came, their camera phones out, taking pictures, they were all in good spirits," train conductor Paul Bowen said.

Sparky was finally reunited with his worried owner after both she and NJ TRANSIT called Garfield police practically at the same time.

"I was so scared, because I didn't know where he was," owner Yvette Osorio said. "I'm very happy and I'm thankful to all of them for saving my dog."

NJ TRANSIT said the entire rescue delayed the train by only six minutes.

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