Trainspotting

Charles Dunn really loves to travel by train

By John Bernardo

Charlie Dunn. Photo by George Barreiro/firedogphoto.com

If anyone knows about traveling on trains, it’s Charles A. Dunn.

Dunn, a Coral Gables family physician and an active, longtime proponent of passenger train service, isn’t just another voice urging bureaucrats to keep railcars rolling. He goes one track further by gathering rail rider statistics to convince local and national politicians that passenger trains will improve transportation and benefit both the environment and city and state governments. In fact, when Dunn isn’t treating patients, he rides the rails everywhere he can and tracks the trains.

“When people can’t go on vacation by car because of high gas prices, it affects their freedom of mobility — that affects their quality of life,” he said. 

Sounds of train horns and railroad crossings have been soothing music to Dunn’s ears since childhood. His lifelong admiration for passenger trains began when his family moved to Miami by train.

“I grew up by the train station in Miami and used to go there a lot to watch the trains,” he said.   

He turned that passion into a job of sorts, keeping a close eye on Amtrak operations since the passenger railroad first opened for business in the early 1970s.

Today, he is an active member of the National Association of Railroad Passengers — a modern, national train network with more than 20,000 members that speaks on behalf of those who use rail transit — which he first joined in the mid-1960s. Presently, he and other rail advocates are lobbying members of Congress to ensure that Amtrak’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., gets the funds needed to improve and expand its service.

“Right now, rail passenger service is a national issue, which we are addressing,” he said. “Amtrak has reliable service in Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Chicago area. However, we have other big cities, for example, like Atlanta, where people can't get direct train service there from South Florida.” 

In recent years, the United States has seen a resurgence in light rail transportation, most recently in Charlotte, N.C. LYNX, which began service there on Nov. 24, 2007, comprises a 9.6-mile line, known as the Blue Line, that runs through Uptown and South End and became the first main rapid rail service of any type in North Carolina. Moreover, it is projected that LYNX will have a daily ridership of 9,100 later this year and 18,300 by 2025. Although Florida voters authorized the state to develop a high-speed light rail train to connect the state’s major metropolitan areas in 2000, they repealed the multibillion project in 2004.

Instead of spending an astronomical amount of money expanding highways, Dunn believes the federal government should reuse old train tracks to expand passenger rail. “Many unused railroad tracks in America need to be put back in service because that would give people direct routes to their destinations,” he said. “Cars let off air pollution emissions and, with the high cost of gas along with heavy highway traffic, rail needs to be the number one transportation alternative. By far, rail is also the safest and most efficient mode of transportation.”

It’s also cheaper and provides travelers with more scenic views than traveling by plane or automobile, he said.

In Florida, during the late 1970s, Dunn was a key lobbyist who persuaded politicians in Washington and Tallahassee that Amtrak needed to have its trains stop in Okeechobee, Dade City and Palatka because of increased demand from riders. Those stops have been a boon to both rail passengers and Amtrak.

“It was through Charlie’s influence that there are stops in Palatka and Okeechobee now, which benefited the railroad and its passengers,” said Jonathan Nelson, a North Miami resident who has known Dunn for about 20 years. “Charlie Dunn just doesn't talk about trains; he frequently rides on trains, and through Charlie, I have gained more insight into Amtrak’s operations.”

In South Florida, Dunn supported Tri-Rail’s double-tracking system and said it improved the commuter railroad’s service. “It has improved, but I would like the trains to travel farther north to Jupiter,” he said. 

Now he takes the train whenever he can. He has traveled on every major train in America and on passenger railways in Canada and Europe.

“He knows how to efficiently help you get where you are going by rail and in every major American city,” said Sam Boldrick, a Coral Gables resident who has known Dunn for about 30 years. “I consult Charles before I go on any trip because I know he probably was already there, knows what places to see and, most importantly, can tell me how to get there by passenger train and rail transit.”

Dunn’s patients are also aware of his longtime passion. In fact, they brought him an array of rail paintings now displayed in his waiting room. One painting includes Union Station in Washington, D.C., and another depicts 1947 locomotives at the Miami train station. Dunn also has models of trains and other rail memorabilia in his office.  

“I’m not a rail fan or rail buff,” he said, “I’m an advocate of rail travel.”