Imaginary place and story involving art deco models and alien mystery. Predecessor to the Area 51 set and models. You can check the catalogs from that period for the back story, the details of which escape me at this point. People either loved them or hated them. I thought they were inspired lunacy. I have a set somewhere. Locomotive didn't pull all that well.
Here's what Lionel has on its website about the Phantom IV:
"THE LEGEND CONTINUES...Two decades ago, a cache of mysterious documents, renderings, and diagrams were discovered in an old farmhouse in Pratt's Hollow, Missouri. To this day, we know very little about where the original papers came from, but it appears they were the work of a highly secretive railroad group called the Pratt's Hollow Design Society (PHDS). It is our belief that this clandestine group of professional railroad designers secretly collaborated in the 1920's to develop a modern locomotive that would replace the automobile. To the Pratt’s Hollow group, efficiency, new technology, and uncompromised modern style was paramount for their "revolution" in transportation to be successful. Until the plans could be completed and patented, these new ideas were carefully, even fearfully, guarded from public knowledge. Mysteriously, their plans came to a quick halt. And the only trace that appears to remain of the extremely secretive Design Society are the cryptic papers unearthed from the Pratt's Hollow farmhouse.From this repository of fascinating train designs, we are proud to bring to life another fantastical Phantom locomotive. The Phantom IV is equipped with a unique selection of updated RailSounds sound effects. Four matching passenger cars-a baggage, vista dome, coach, and observation car-are also available.The Pratt's Hollow story is imaginary, and the spectacular trains in the Pratt's Hollow Collection never really existed-but they should have!"
