Now, do they still offer a degree in Boilermaking? I believe they got a grant, or some sort of instruction from the Federal Government for teaching people how to make and design boilers, hence the school mascot.
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I'm a former Purdue student. Years ago Purdue was accused of using workers
from a Boiler factory to play on their football team. The name stuck.
Originally Posted by Dominic Mazoch:
Now, do they still offer a degree in Boilermaking? I believe they got a grant, or some sort of instruction from the Federal Government for teaching people how to make and design boilers, hence the school mascot.
1) No.
2) Not true.
Lol. Nope. The Monon Shops were right there in Lafayette and Purdue was accused of bringing in railroad workers from the Monon for the football game by fans from Wabash. Their team was having to play "Boilermakers."
When I was there, we had a classroom with tracks in the floor, big high ceilings and glass where Purdue Mechical Engineers would test steam engines. Long gone now. It was a CADCAM lab for awhile.
We are working on a special run in Monon colors that will get announced shortly. These past few weeks, I have learned a lot about the Monon from all of the historians around central Indiana. It has been great fun.
West Lafayette and Lafayette, IN are great rail fanning towns, although the street running is no longer in Lafayette. "Boiler Up!"
FWIW into the 1920's it was pretty common for college football teams to hire players for big games. Before he became a hero at Notre Dame as "the Gipper", George Gipp apparently had played for pay for several different colleges.
Originally Posted by wjstix:
FWIW into the 1920's it was pretty common for college football teams to hire players for big games. Before he became a hero at Notre Dame as "the Gipper", George Gipp apparently had played for pay for several different colleges.
Though Gipp was a bit long in the tooth when he enrolled at Notre Dame, I don't believe he enjoyed any previous collegiate careers.
Geez, some things never seem to change.
I live in Lafayette and it is a great town for railfans and a wonderful place to live. Purdue does contribute quite a bit to our community, but I'll be the first one to admit that my favorite part of each year comes from watching the Notre Dame football team beat up Purdue. Go Irish!
