Real Rails for Lego Trains???

Yes, those are early LEGO rails. Originally they were used for push trains, then battery operated, and eventually in the late 60s they introduced 12 volt power rails you could lay down between the two normal rails, meaning they only needed to produce new switches and crossings and you could buy the power rails and motor adaptor to upgrade existing trains. Battery powered push trains still coexisted with the transformer driven (and more serious, you could get lights, automatic switches, and more model railway type accessories you wouldn't normally get with a toy) trains up into the 80s when the tracks were redesigned to grey.


(Pic from a BrickTsar thumbnail, flipped to be in chronological order)

In the 90s the power rails were built into the normal side rails, and then everything went battery powered all plastic rails again in the 2000s with IR and PowerFunctions. The gauges and dimensions have remained the same, and I think if you put 12 volt 70s/80s power pickups between 90s 9 volt rails, you could run any LEGO train from the 60s to present, push along, battery powered, or any of the track pickup systems on the same layout.

Current availability is limited to the second hand market, unfortunately