"He was a cute little rascal, and he was game. All he wanted was to get to his master. I’d somehow hate to be the kind of man who would run down a dog with a spirit like that.”--Joseph J. Krankoff, BMT Motorman after stopping train for a Pomeranian
“He was a cute little rascal, and he was game. All he wanted was to get to his master. I’d somehow hate to be the kind of man who would run down a dog with a spirit like that.”–Joseph J. Krankoff, BMT Motorman

To slow his train down and save the life of a loyal Pomeranian or continue at full speed to stay on schedule. That was the decision 38-year-old motorman Joseph J. Krankoff had to make one morning during rush hour in the summer of 1932.

Joseph’s full train was just about to start from the Ditmars Avenue (now Ditmars Boulevard) terminal station in Astoria, Queens, when he saw a little brown and white dog dash out onto the tracks from the platform. The dog, later identified as a Pomeranian, was in hot pursuit of his master, who had just boarded the previous New York-bound train on the Astoria Line (today’s N and Q trains).

The Pomeranian had apparently followed his master to the station, only to have the gate slammed in his face when he tried to board the train. People on the platform shouted at him as he leaped, and one person even tried to grab him. But the Pomeranian had only one thing on his mind: to reach his master, whatever heroic efforts it took.

Although he was instructed to keep his train up to speed in order to maintain the schedule, Joseph decided to throttle down to a snail’s pace to avoid hitting the dog. As Albert P. Terhune reported in the Sioux County Index, “In another minute or less, ordinarily, Krankoff’s train would overtake him and the plucky little Pom would be ground to a pulp and left screaming his life out on the high tracks.”

For the next two miles, the Pomeranian continued to run after his master’s train as it stopped and started up again at the Hoyt-Astoria, Grand Avenue, and Broadway stations. Fuming passengers in Krankoff’s train made their way up to the front car to see what was causing the delay. Some passengers cursed at him, but most of them rooted for the little dog.

“Some of the passengers yelled at the good little dog to make him get off the track,” Joseph told reporters. “But he kept scurrying on as fast as he could. He didn’t pay any attention to them at all. Those tiny legs of his were just flashing over the ties.

“I kept the train just a few yards behind him. He was a cute little rascal, and he was game. All he wanted was to get to his master. I’d somehow hate to be the kind of man who would run down a dog with a spirit like that.”

Joseph Krankoff risked his job by slowing down his train and getting behind schedule in order to prevent running over the Pomeranian.
Joseph Krankoff risked his job by slowing down his train and getting behind schedule in order to prevent running over the Pomeranian.

Luckily there was an employee walking along the tracks just beyond the Broadway station. He paused in wonder at Krankoff’s slow-moving train, but then saw the Pomeranian. He grabbed the dog by its leather harness and set him free on the street below.

Unfortunately, no one knows what happened to the little Pom after his near brush with death on the elevated tracks. However, Krankoff’s good deed came to the attention of Mrs. Phillip Clark (nee Greta Pomeroy), a philanthropist and fixture of New York’s high society who was very active in the New York Women’s League for Animals. The League awarded Joseph with its “distinguished humane service medal,” the TJ Oakley Rhinelander gold medal.

Krankoff was the first person to receive the medal, which was established that same year by real estate tycoon Thomas Jackson Oakley Rhinelander to be awarded yearly “to whoever performs the most notable act of kindness to a dumb animal.”

Motorman Joseph Krankoff was awarded a distinguished gold medal from the New York Women's League for Animals for going very slow.
Motorman Joseph Krankoff was awarded a distinguished gold medal from the New York Women’s League for Animals for going very slow.
BMT Route Map
BMT Route Map

If you enjoyed this story, you may want to click here to read about a New York heiress who also received an award for humane service from the New York Women’s League for Animals for saving six dogs in Ardsley, NY.