page_title: Boilermaker Special
section_title: Boilermaker X-tra Special VIII
hierarchical_section_title: Boilermaker Special / Boilermaker X-tra Special VIII
caption_attribution_description: English: The Boilermaker X-tra Special VIII with Purdue Pete at the 2018 Music City Bowl.
context_page_description: The Boilermaker Special is the official mascot of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It resembles a Victorian-era railroad locomotive and is built on a truck chassis. It is operated and maintained by the student members of the Purdue Reamer Club. It is often incorrectly assumed that Purdue Pete is the official mascot of the university.
context_section_description: On June 16, 2017, the Reamer Club announced the Boilermaker Special VI would be retired and replaced by the Boilermaker Special VIII.  The VIII was assembled from a new, heavy-duty Caryall Turf 2 golf cart donated by Club Car and a new body designed and fabricated by the Wabash National corporation.  The smokestack on the VIII is shorter than those on the IV and VI so that it no longer needs to be disassembled to drive into freight elevators or pass through doorways.  The new X-tra Special made its first public appearance in West Lafayette Indiana at the Minnesota-Purdue football game on October 7, 2017 alongside the Boilermaker Special VI, which was making its final public appearance.  The VIII led the football team onto the field, and was later featured in an announcement at the stadium during the third media time-out of the first quarter.  The Purdue All-American Marching Band also played a tribute to the Boilermaker Special during their pregame performance.  The band formed an image of the X-Tra Special on the field, then played "Wabash Cannonball" as the formation moved across the field.  The performance included band members discharging fire extinguishers at the top of the smokestack.  A private dedication followed the football game at the Purdue Memorial Union.  In attendance were active and honorary members of the Reamer Club, recent pledges, university advisors, Wabash National employees, and Reamer Club alumni representing six decades of membership.
caption: The Boilermaker X-tra Special VIII (2017 - Present)
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