Model Railroading > Marklin HO track

I just came across some Marklin HO track with a third rail in the
center. What is that?
Thank you

JunkTrain Wrote:
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> I just came across some Marklin HO track with a
> third rail in the center. What is that?
> Thank you

AFAIK, it is AC and operate electrically like Lionel, but in HO scale.

Is Marklin AFAIF the same as Marklin M track?

AFAIK = As Far As I Know, not a product designation.

The vast majority of Marklin HO has traditionally been 3-rail, operating on AC current.  The M track has a metal roadbed.  Early M track had a solid center rail, while the later version had a studded center rail.  

I've never cared for anything 3 railed, whether Lionel O27 or Marklin HO.  But I do understand models like Lionel and other O27 brands have had their own following as well as Marklin.  When I was a kid, my first electric trains were Lionel, and I've saved the metal Hudson steam engine as a sentimental relic of my childhood, but when I saw HO for the first time at around 7 years old, I immediately noticed it looks more realistic with two rails like real trains.  So around age 8 I sold off my Lionel (or my parents did) and I went out and bought an HO train set with a flashy red and silver Santa Fe F7.  Sadly, it wouldn't run so back it went and it was a couple more years before I bought my first Tyco train set with a lilttle switcher that didn't work great with only 4 wheels.  I later switched to N and in the mid-late 80's back to HO.  

Anyway, I assume the Marklin track with the studs rather than a 3rd center rail, was designed to be compatible with the AC 3 rail design, but look a bit more like 2 rail track, and increase realism.  

Cheers,
Jim