An observant commuter rail engineer contacted a commuter rail crew to quickly save a dog stuck on train tracks near Lowell, Massachusetts. Here's the story of the hero of the week and his crew.
By Abby Patkin, Boston Com, July 30, 2024
A lucky dog found in a precarious position on the commuter rail tracks near Lowell got a rescue — and a free ride — from an eagle-eyed Keolis engineer and the train’s quick-thinking crew earlier this month.
Engineer Ignacio Barillas told Boston.com he was heading inbound from Lowell the evening of July 18 when he spotted a dog stuck on the opposite tracks, struggling to free itself.
“I knew that wasn’t right, and I also knew that there was an outbound train heading towards Lowell that I always cross paths with every day,” said Barillas, who has worked for Keolis since 2019.
He stopped the train and notified the commuter rail dispatcher so the crew could launch a rescue mission. Once the coast was clear, the train’s conductor and assistant conductor hopped off and freed the dog.
“The dog was stuck around one of the spikes in the rails, and there was no way the dog would have been able to get out of there on its own,” Barillas recalled.
The conductor and assistant conductor brought the pup onboard while Barillas provided dispatchers with an update. The train continued on its way, and an animal control officer met the crew at North Billerica Station to take custody of the dog.
Billerica & Tewksbury Animal Control did not respond to a request for comment but later released a statement saying the dog had broken his cable runner, got loose from his home near the tracks, and became tangled. The dog was returned to its owner, according to animal control officials.
For Barillas, leaping into action was an obvious choice.
“I just felt like we did the right thing, and I would do it 100 times again,” said Barillas, who has two dogs himself.
He added: “Just knowing that we saved that dog from being hit by a train was all that mattered to me.”
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