Immersed in his Lilliputian world, Don Cardiff is hard at work.
Surrounded by reels of wire, yards of lumber and gallons of paint in his 3,600-square-foot St. Charles plant, Cardiff is bringing clients` dreams to life.
A soft-spoken man with an engaging smile, the 54-year-old Antioch native builds custom model-train layouts for a living. And the emphasis is on custom; Cardiff`s model railroad layouts are one-of-a-kind creations.
As individual as the customers that commission his work, Cardiff`s layouts reflect myriad ideas and tastes.
”Some people in the business tell customers how it should be done. Baloney. We ask the customer what they want. If they like to run high-speed trains through an 1890s village, that`s fine. We`ll do that,” said Cardiff, now a St. Charles resident.
Whether the project fits inside a briefcase or fills a basement, Cardiff will build it. The only ingredients needed are imagination and, of course, capital. Though Cardiff has built layouts beginning as low as $1,500, the base cost is usually about $5,000; most layouts cost much more.
”We`ve found a substantial market in the $15,000 to $30,000 range, as remarkable as that may seem,” Cardiff said.
Jim Durow, owner of Hobby Works in Batavia, got to know Cardiff and his work when the two collaborated on some projects.
”In terms of quality, there is nobody else like Cardiff. Others are trying but Cardiff is the best,” Durow said. ”Personally, I think the most amazing thing about him is his vision and attention to detailing. There is no break from the layout through the backdrop. Technically, (he`s) always looking for ways to improve the overall quality of the layout. From the standpoint of electrical wiring, Don tries to make it easy for the owner to operate.”
One customer in New York, Henry Moses of Scarsdale, has built his new home around a 5,000-square-foot cavity that will house a Cardiff layout. A two-year project at least, Cardiff is still negotiating a price with Moses.
Cardiff readily admits that his company, D.C. Inc., is unusual. Even he was initially skeptical about the success of such a venture.
”I tried it out part time when I was working the desk at the Hotel Geneva. The owner, a very nice woman, let me use the hotel basement for the layouts,” Cardiff said. That was in the 1970s. Cardiff`s twin sons Dave and Gary, now 27, were children then. They became his first assistants.
”Actually, it was rather embarrassing. We started out dressed like elves and helped Dad deliver layouts at Christmas,” Dave Cardiff said, laughing.
In 1984, Cardiff, who is divorced, was employed at an electronics firm. Suddenly he found himself out of work, the result of a mass layoff. It was then that his part-time passion became a full-time career.
”First I ran a small ad in the newspaper and got a fairly good response. Then I got a hammer and saw and began to figure the whole thing out,” he said.
Cardiff hasn`t stopped working since.
”We`ve never slowed down. There`s always one more, one more. We attribute that, partly, to the reputation we`ve established in the past eight years,” Cardiff said.
The other part of that equation is the fact that Cardiff has found an unusual niche in the industry.
”We deal with a very small part of the market. Maybe one-tenth of one percent. But that`s all you need,” Cardiff said.
To provide himself with reasonable financial security, Cardiff adheres to a strict business policy. First, a down payment of 50 percent is required. Then, as he nears completion, Cardiff secures another 25 percent. The balance is collected upon delivery.
”We have to know that (the customers are) serious because all these layouts are one of a kind. I`m not going to find another customer for them,” Cardiff said.
The first thing Cardiff does for his customers is draw up a design.
”Once we agree on a plan, I can quote a variety of prices. Then the customer can pick where he wants to be. But I really need to know specifically what`s going into the layout. Otherwise, it`s like comparing apples and oranges.”
From the drawing board to completion can take anywhere from a couple months to a year or more, depending on the size of the project and
availability of supplies. When completed, Cardiff and one of his assistants personally deliver and assemble the layout in the customer`s home.
Though the business is clearly Cardiff`s invention, its successful operation relies heavily on family effort.
Sons Dave and Gary are invaluable assets to the business. Gary, who has another full-time job, pitches in when he can; his forte is wiring. Dave, who works for his father full time, specializes in making parts of the layouts out of plaster of Paris.
And then there is Cardiff`s brother Bud, who excels at scenery design and for a while operated a second D.C. Inc. from his former home in Phoenix, Ariz. But that operation was short lived.
”One day I got a phone call from Don,” Bud Cardiff said. ”He asked if I could come (to St. Charles) for a while. That was 1985. I haven`t seen Phoenix since.”
Don and Bud Cardiff`s shared interest in trains goes back to their childhood. Together they watched trains on the Soo Line speed through Antioch, their hometown. Building model layouts began in their teenage years, at the family store.
”Dad owned a Western Tire & Auto store in Antioch. It had a hobby department and model trains. Our first layouts were 4-by-4`s for the store`s Christmas display window,” Don Cardiff said.
At the D.C. Inc. factory at 3N654 N. 17th St. in St. Charles, saws and drills whine and hammers pound, creating a deafening din. But sounds can be deceiving. As Cardiff sees it, the work is not laborious or tedious. It is almost therapeutic.
”I used to be up to my neck with tension. Not anymore. Now I can get lost in creating these miniature worlds. Or I can spend all day working at the drawing board, which I love. And I really like the idea of being my own boss.”
And Bud Cardiff seems to have no complaints about having his brother for a boss.
”There`s a lot of freedom here,” Bud said. ”It`s a very relaxed atmosphere. Like any business there are ups and downs. But here we have one big asset: diversification. We really don`t get in each other`s way because we can do different things. If I get frustrated with something I can put it down, pick up a hammer and work on something else. As a result, we have a great working relationship.”
Dave Cardiff agreed with his uncle.
With such a specialized business, one would think that Cardiff would guard all his secrets. ”We keep very few secrets because the better the hobby is, the better it is for us,” he said.
”Our competition comes in two forms. If they`re very good, they`re going to be busy. We don`t have to worry about them. If they`re not very good, we`re going to be picking up the pieces afterward. Very few businesses fall in between. Just the very logistics of disassembling and reassembling the layouts scare most people to death,” Don said.
And, apparently, it keeps competition to a minimum. To date, there are very few businesses like Cardiff`s.
”Don has probably been around the longest in the layout-building business,” said Jim Kelly, editor of Model Railroader magazine. ”In fact, for a while, he probably had the business to himself. Today there are maybe three or four layout builders like him.”
Though much of Cardiff`s new business comes from customer referrals, ads in Model Railroader magazine attract a tremendous number of curious and serious customers.
Dr. Eugene Bartucci, an orthopedic surgeon from Oak Brook, owns two Cardiff layouts. One is a permanent layout. The other, which Cardiff stores for him, arrives, each year, on the day before Thanksgiving. It becomes Bartucci`s holiday layout.
”The attraction, I suppose, is an attempt to recapture a bit of my childhood and pass it on to my children. They really love (the layouts),”
said Bartucci, who opted for Cardiff because building a layout himself was daunting.
Ideally, Cardiff likes to have no more than 10 projects going at once. But there is always room for one special project.
Julie Hauck, project coordinator for the Indiana Children`s Wish Fund, has sent some orders Cardiff`s way. ”Don and his family are marvelous people. They do incredible work,” she said.
In 1990, Hauck worked with Cardiff on a wish from a Kokomo, Ind., youth with muscular dystrophy who had seen Cardiff`s ad in Model Railroader magazine. Hauck said Cardiff goes out of his way to help the fund.
A quiet man with boundless energy, Cardiff happily devotes endless hours to his business. But there is sacrifice.
”Someday I`d like to build my own layout,” he said, laughing. ”I don`t have one.”
