A lot to ‘choo’ on: Seuferer, Burton among tops in model railroads at 4-H County Fair

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Model trains are a way to create a world of one’s own, and the Fulton County 4-H Fair allowed local members to show off their creativity.

Josh Seuferer, a sophomore-to-be at Rochester High School, won the model trains grand championship for the third straight year and will again be heading to the state fair.

Josh Seuferer shows off his creation “No Joshin’ Around In Our Town,” which he informally calls “Joshville” at the Fulton County 4-H Fair trains exhibit. Seuferer won the model train grand championship for the third straight year and will again head to the state fair. Seuferer will be a sophomore at Rochester High School in the fall.

The trains are exhibited in a building just to the side of Hudkins Arena at the Fulton County 4-H Fairgrounds.

“Most of the time, when we come to meetings, all they want to do is run trains, so we don’t push them,” Scott Seuferer, sponsor of the Fulton County 4-H Fair model trains club, said. “We let them run trains and bring their own trains in. Josh has been doing this for a long time, so he probably has the biggest collection.”

One had a car that resembled the Titan submersible that imploded searching for the Titanic wreck in June 2023.

Those in the club learn how to measure things to scale.

“What we try to do is give them a formula so they can measure things and know where to be, so the tractors don’t end up being bigger than the steam engines and stuff,” Scott Seuferer said. “So they learned all about scale, and then after we gave them a class on how to measure things and how to make sure they’re within their limits, they went to work on their projects. And then they all did a train car also. … So really, they did two projects. They did a layout, and they did a train car for the judges. So they worked hard all year long.”

Judges can be unpredictable as to what they like and what they do not like. Judges could deduct points if they see glue marks on a car. The glue can be hard to control, according to Scott Seuferer.

“I like her because she’s hard on the kids,” Scott Seuferer said. “She points out the problem areas. She points out the mistakes. It’s not all sunshine and roses with her. I like her because she teaches the kids what they need to work on.”

‘Rat Hill Farms’

Harrison Burton shows off his “Rat Hill Farm” at the model railroad exhibit at the Fulton County 4-H Fair. Burton will be a seventh-grader at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School in the fall.

The club members were surprised to see a mouse run across the tracks and even scratch the track with its paws.

So Harrison Burton, who will be a seventh-grader at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School, decided to change the name of his track to Rat Hill Farms.

“I was just joking around, and I said Rat Hill Farms, and I told my mom that, and then she said, ‘Ha Ha,’” Burton said.

Burton is in his second year showing trains and also shows sheep and cattle. A junior leader, this is his fifth year in 4-H.

Josh Seuferer had a building that had “graffiti” on it with his last name spelled out.

His community, which he called “Joshville” also paid tribute to the police car in the movie “Smokey and the Bandit.”

Seuferer said he prefers to buy his cars in person rather than online. He likes to go to Rolling 20 Hobbies in Peru and to Train Exchange, a model train store in Kokomo.

Seuferer also does Mighty Mutts in 4-H. He has been in 4-H since he was a third-grader.

An example of the attention to detail that members of the Fulton County 4-H Model Railroad Club is exhibited in the “graffiti” on the side of a building in Josh Seuferer’s exhibit.