SNEAK PREVIEW OF SIX GREAT LAYOUTS IN THE GOLDEN STATE

Visit T W Design: Where Magic Happens

Scratchbuild Your Family History

Run 241February / March 2010

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Near the heart of downtown Dallas inan expansive facility, a talented group ofpeople is dedicated to dreaming up andproducing a fascinating variety of displaysfor theatrical productions, commercialexhibitors, Lionel LLC, and individual

model train hobbyists around the country.Customized layouts for commercial andpersonal use share the T W Design shopfloor with things like a tradeshow boothfor avocados, a stage set for the Texas StateFair, four 12´ tall beer glasses for Houston’s

Reliant Stadium, and rows of rainbow-colored fiberglass Chick-fil-A cow wigs.

For nearly three decades, Dorcie andRoger Farkash have presided over a businessdriven by imagination and creativity that isfocused on delivering projects on time and

The Serious Business of Making the Magic Happen

Article and Photos courtesy of T W Design

Lionel’s Polar Express rolls through a winter world created by T W Design.

T W Design

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on budget to their nationwide clientele. Rogerleads a unique team of artisans and electronicsspecialists who work long hours daily to meetthe deadlines and make the magic happen fortheir clients. Welcome to the world of T WDesign (twdesign.com)!

An Early Start

There is no such thing as a typical day at T W Design, but the days typically start early.Roger and the crew begin a morning meeting at7:30 AM on the dot. A quick status update isgiven, and time and materials budgets arereviewed for current projects. On a recent daythere was work to be done on two nearly com-pleted custom tables, Lionel’s latest layout wasbeing prepped for the next show, the limitededition Grand Central Terminal models were inpreconstruction mode (Photo 1), and aChristmas-themed toy train experience for the Museum of the AmericanRailroad was being planned.

The brief meeting ends, and it’s off to work for the carefully assem-bled crew who still “can’t believe they get paid to do this” (Photo 2). Theshop comes to life with the hum of power tools as model train dreamsare skillfully fashioned into reality, making it another busy day.

A Brief Background

Opening in 1982, T W Design quickly gained a reputation in Dallasfor specializing in sets for stage, film, tradeshow exhibits, and interactivemarketing campaigns. As business increased, bigger quarters wereneeded. The company acquired its current building in 1993, a ware-house of 40,000 square feet on Crampton Street near downtown Dallas.

Roger’s work in designing and building stage environments wasnoticed by toy company showroom producers. He began creating elabo-rate theme exhibits at the New York City Toy Fair and other tradeshowvenues for a number of major toy companies including Kenner, Tonka,Mattel, Ertl, Corgi, and Racing Champions, which led to long-lastingclient relationships that continue to this day.

During this time Roger and his son Frank crafted a personal 16´ x28´ train layout at the office, which later became the basis for a 3-railersclub layout in Dallas. Roger’s lifetime experience in studying, designing,and building stage sets was put to good use in creating layouts that werevisually stunning, operationally pleasing, and logistically manageable,while still being fun to see and run (Photo 3).

In 2001, Roger came to the attention of the marketing people atLionel. He was commissioned in 2002 to design Lionel’s No. 840 PowerStation booth for the New York Toy Fair. It was designed to be reassem-bled in various configurations, and is still in use. After the success of theirfirst joint project, Lionel and T W Design began working together onnumerous tradeshow events (Photo 4), layout displays, and train meetpresentations, including the acclaimed Lionel layout that made its debutat the 2008 Eastern Division TCA Meet in York, Pennsylvania.

The Latest Lionel Layout

Principles of the theater—primarily designing and creating piecesthat are lightweight and portable, yet inherently durable—are second

Dorcie and Roger Farkash

Roger and his crew plan their day.

A customer layout awaits finishing touches.

Lionel Grand Central Terminal, as produced by T W Design

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ABOVE: Lionel’s Tom Nuzzo helps to operate the Lionel 2009 layout.

LEFT: An urban scene on Lionel’s layout at the 2008 LCCA Convention

BELOW: Another view of the Lionel 2009 layout

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nature to Roger and are evident in his toytrain layout designs. A good example isLionel’s most recent tradeshow layout(Photo 5). This massive viewing experi-ence with operating layout and six orangetrack towers features 36 operating trainsand includes product presentation walls.These elements can easily be set up differ-

ently in a space as small as 10´ x 20´. Theentire 20´ x 60´ layout can be assembled bya four man crew in as few as eight hours. Itfits into a single 53´ tractor-trailer for ship-ping and has been featured at nine majorevents across the country in the past year(Photo 6).

The Launch of TrainWorx

In early 2008, despite an increasinglysluggish economy that forced several of T W Design’s top clients to cut marketingbudgets, the toy train portion of the businesscontinued to grow, and demand for servicesamong hobbyists kept rising (Photo 7). As

A custom-designed L-shaped Lionel traintable from T W Design

This completed custom train table is ready for delivery.

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a result, the decision was made to create anew division dedicated exclusively todesigning, building, and marketing cus-tom layouts, train furniture, layout acces-sories, and other train-related products. InNovember 2008, TrainWorx division(twtrainworx.com) was launched (Photo8). TrainWorx develops and delivers theprojects, while a holding company, calledWolfPack Creative LLC organized inFebruary 2009, is the custodian of theintellectual property that results. It is inter-esting that Farkash means “wolf ” inHungarian.

Every day seems to bring change atTrainWorx. While marketing plans arediligently implemented, the businessremains very fluid. Employees joke that theydon’t dare take too long at lunch becausetheir entire day may change in the span ofan hour. “The only constant here is change,”said Randee Smith Prez, a 16-year employeein the project management department,“and keeping up with all the recent devel-opments can be a full-time job.”

The Lionel License

In September 2009, T W Design wasgranted a two-year licensing agreement toproduce official Lionel products for direct-to-consumer and commercial use. Thelicense covers a variety of train furnitureitems bearing the Lionel brand name andlogo as well as other specialty productsRoger and his craftsmen can “traingineer”on a case-by-case basis. This is an excitingtime for Roger who has never been knownto be short on ideas, as evidenced by thedozens of carefully designed “some day”drawings that populate his office and make

it look like the hard copy headquarters of ahobbyist’s fondest imaginings.

Roger talks about the new licensingopportunity in his customary calm way. “Aswith any new venture, we will incremen-tally introduce items that fans of the brandhave been requesting. Lionel-themed lay-out tables, limited edition products, andother furniture items will be availablethrough our website or the Lionel catalog,depending on the product. In addition, wewill be introducing our TrainWorx devel-oped layout enhancements, such as ele-vated trestles, truss/railings and bridges,along with a series of highly detailedmountain units. We’re delighted to aug-ment our already solid working relation-ship with Lionel by expanding our supportof the Lionel brand” (Photo 9).

Full Steam Ahead

At times it seems as though there ismore to do than there are hours in the day,but Dorcie and Roger know that their con-tinued success in the model train businessdepends on some key factors. First andforemost is a dedication to the hobbyiststhey serve. Roger is a proud LCCA andTCA member. He is also one of thefounders as well as a member of the Boardof Directors of the Lone Star Hi-Railerstrain club. The Hi-Railers club is extremelyactive in the Dallas/Fort Worth model rail-roading communities and can be foundexhibiting its modular O gauge layout atregional shows and volunteering at trainmuseums and train-related events.

CEO and President Dorcie Farkash iscommitted to maintaining a strong core ofemployees through an ongoing commit-

ment to personal development and foster-ing open communication. “In a companywith less than two dozen employees, it’sparamount that each team member wearsmultiple hats and shares the same sense ofurgency as Roger and I do every day. Ourcore TrainWorx staff is small, so eachmember of the crew is multitalented,model train savvy, and works closely withour clients to realize their layout dreams.George Watson is our wiring wizard, oper-ational evaluator, and lead installationsupervisor on our Lionel events. He’s a truehobbyist with an extensive modern-eratrain collection and a deep knowledge ofreal trains as well. Roy McClellan is a tal-ented electronics engineer who doubles asresearcher and mechanical troubleshooterand just happens to be a lifelong collectorof toy trains. With the support of crafts-man grade carpenters like Dave Prez andWes Rollins, the team continues to deliverincredible toy train experiences for ourclients.”

Dorcie has a background in marketing,but when she joined her husband at theircompany in 1985, she had to learn byexperience things like corporate budgeting,finance, tax reporting, and all the otherstuff that falls to a CEO. She vividly recallsasking Roger where the quarterly financialstatements were, and he helpfully pointedout that they were neatly stacked on a shelf.A big part of her job today is to ask ques-tions that create dialogue, expose potentialproblems before they occur, and keep thelines of communication buzzing betweenthe design, project management, produc-tion, and facilities management teams.

T W Design has been ratcheting uptheir marketing efforts. A new corporatewebsite was launched in mid-2008, andthe new TrainWorx website continues tosee significant upgrades. The marketingdepartment posts photos of its latest proj-ects on Facebook under the T W Designand Lionel fan pages, uploads videos onthe TrainWorx YouTube page, and hasbeen releasing daily updates on Twitter. Inthis way, the marketing department hopesto reach a broad age range of current andfuture hobbyists.

Dorcie summed up her long-standingbusiness relationship with Roger succinctly:“For a lot of couples, working together soclosely on a daily basis wouldn’t work. Itworks for us because of one word”…shepaused and said seriously... “love.”

George Watson and Roger Farkash of T W Design and Mike McLintock, president of the Lone Star Hi-Railers, posewith Tom Nuzzo at the 2008 LCCA Convention.

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