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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/03/31/2009-03-31_hedge_fund_hotshot_robert_mercer_files_l-2.html
Hedge fund hotshot Robert Mercer files lawsuit over $2M model train, accusing builder of overcharge
BY John Marzulli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, March 31st 2009, 4:00 AM
A hedge fund hotshot's lawsuit over a toy railroad setup sounds more like the great train robbery than Thomas the Tank Engine.
Robert Mercer is accusing the builder of overcharging him by nearly $2 million for the elaborate HO-scale model railroad constructed and installed in his Long Island mansion. Mercer, 62, contends in a federal suit that the correct amount due for labor and materials is more like $704,669, according to the complaint filed in Central Islip Federal Court. Mercer's lawyer Steven Pinks confirmed the figures are not typos, but declined to comment further. Mercer filed notice Monday seeking a default judgment against RailDreams Custom Model Railroad Design, in Michigan, and the company's president, Richard Taylor, for failing to answer the suit.
Taylor expressed shock over the legal maneuver because he thought they were going to settle the matter out of court.
"He [Mercer] is a hedge fund guy, part of the reason why the country is in the situation it's in," Taylor told the Daily News.
The suit accuses Taylor of padding the bill "wrongfully and fraudulently," but he countered that like many large transportation projects, the costs ballooned as a result of the buyer's demands.
Reluctant to discuss details of the railroad set, Taylor said it depicts a specific location in New York State with museum-quality detail and is about half the size of a basketball court.
"To the discerning model railroader, a finished RailDreams layout is truly a unique work of art," the company's Web site crows.
Taylor said a team of craftsmen was dispatched from its headquarters in Lake Linden, Mich., to Long Island to finish the job while Mercer's home in Mount Sinai, L.I., was being built.
"We had to get it done for his daughter's wedding," Taylor said.