BOILERMAKER SPECIAL
Chances are anyone who has been on Purdue's campus during a major home game has seen, or at least heard, the Boilermaker Special. It's hard to miss, a miniature train cruising around campus streets blowing a whistle and ringing a bell that sound like those on a train. The Boilermaker Special is completely unique in the realm of collegiate mascots, being a fully functional, road legal automobile however there does exists some confusion regrading not only the history of the special but also it's role among students on campus. This was confusion is best shown by a survey conducted of 30 random students at Purdue, of these 30 only two-thirds knew the Boilermaker Special was the official mascot of Purdue.
HISTORY
Design sketch of Boilermaker Special III
For Purdue's first 70 years of existence the university did not have a official mascot. This was changed in 1939 when a Purdue sophomore named Israel Selkowitz wrote a letter to the editor of The Purdue Exponent proposing that the university adopt an official mascot. Selkowitz's initial proposal was a "mechanical man" which he thought would represent Purdue's engineering heritage. This proposal sparked much debate on campus about what to make the mascot, this debate resulted in the idea of building a locomotive on an automobile chassis.
This mascot was dubbed the Boilermaker Special as a result of railroad terminology. When a railroad operates a train outside of their normal weekly train schedule the train is known as a "special." Therefore the trains that would carry the Boilermakers and their fans to games were known as "boilermaker specials." As the mascot would be a train that followed the school's teams around, the name Boilermaker Special made sense and so was agreed upon.
This mascot was dubbed the Boilermaker Special as a result of railroad terminology. When a railroad operates a train outside of their normal weekly train schedule the train is known as a "special." Therefore the trains that would carry the Boilermakers and their fans to games were known as "boilermaker specials." As the mascot would be a train that followed the school's teams around, the name Boilermaker Special made sense and so was agreed upon.
Boilermaker Special I
Naturally as the Boilermaker Special is a functioning automobile its design, as well as its components have changed over the years. The different models of the Boilermaker Special are distinguished from each other in writing by the addition of roman numerals to indicate the number. As such the original Boilermaker Special is Boilermaker Special I the second is Boilermaker Special II and so on. The current Boilermaker Special is Boilermaker Special VII. Over the years the Boilermaker Special has been made from various automotive parts, usually at least some of these parts are donated by automotive companies. As such must of the components of the Boilermaker Special VII were not on the Boilermaker Special VI. However there are some parts that all the different versions of the Boilermaker Special have shared, these are the bell, the light, and the whistle.
TRADITIONS
Boilermaker Special VII
Most of the tradition surrounding the Boilermaker Special revolves around the Purdue football program. At football games the Boilermaker Special always takes the field with the team, regardless of whether Purdue is home or away. Thus the Boilermaker Special always travels to away football games, traditionally members of the Reamers Club will drive the Boilermaker Special to and from games. In fact the only time the Boilermaker Special was not driven all the way to a football game was for the 2001 Rose Bowl in Pasadena California, to Boilermaker Special was shipped to this event.
Otherwise the Boilermaker Special is a common sight on campus during home games of any kind, driving around and blowing its whistle.
Otherwise the Boilermaker Special is a common sight on campus during home games of any kind, driving around and blowing its whistle.
