Nostalgia & History > The Paoli Local

The “Paoli Local” was a B-24 Liberator that was part of the 723rd Squadron based in the European theater. The plane got its name from the five original crew members who use to take the PRR “Paoli Local” on the Keystone line to Philadelphia. Staff Sergeant Jimmy Moore, waist gunner on the plane, was actually a  locomotive fireman on the railroad. The PRR made posters about the plane and displayed them in every car and at the depot along the line.

On October 7, 1944, the Paoli Local was shot down over Austria and some of the crew was captured and placed in various prisoner camps until the end of the war.

We recently learned about the Paoli Local and our reenactment group decided we wanted to have some fun and recreate it with our own twist. Unfortunately, the B-24 that was at the airshow was fully booked with flights so we used a B-25 instead. With more time to plan, we hope to recreate the Paoli Local with a B-24 in the future during an official Lerro Productions shoot.

Photo by Michele Ellis

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Re-enactment PRR keystone looks more proportional than original - but, what the heck, it was war time and you made do with what you had.
Not exactly the photos I expected when I opened the post but interesting, for sure.

For those who are interested in WW2 aircraft, The "Wings of Freedom" tour are flying into McNary Field, Salem, Oregon's municipal airport on Friday, June 14, and will be on exhibit this weekend. A B-17, B-24, B-25, P-51 and a P-40 will be on exhibit Saturday and Sunday.
Bill Pyper
Salem, Oregon

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/19 14:00 by wjpyper.

There are but two airworthy B-24s.  The "Paoli Local" looks like a "J" model, and the only one flying is "Witchcraft" belonging to the Collings Foundation.  It could be done with a wrap, if Collings would agree.  I'd be glad to spend some dollars to shoot it. 

For those of you interested in aviation, don't miss the Wings of Freedom group.  As a lifelong aviation industry flight tester, I really appreciate ancient aviation just as much as ancient steam locomotives.  Did any of the original crew survive the combination shootdown and subsequent prison camps?

NormSchultze Wrote:
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> There are but two airworthy B-24s.  The "Paoli
> Local" looks like a "J" model, and the only one
> flying is "Witchcraft" belonging to the Collings
> Foundation.  It could be done with a wrap, if
> Collings would agree.  I'd be glad to spend some
> dollars to shoot it. 

Diamond Lil, out of Dallas with the Confederate Air Force, is still flying regularly.

But Diamond Lil is an early model. The pix shows what appears to be a "J" model. That's why I didn't mention "Lil".

In their ads during the war, the PRR  had a red star with the number of employees serving, and a gold star with the number of former employees who had made the the supreme sacrifice.