I just came across a very close prototype for E-Z Streets/Super Streets. In 1895, Philadelphia inventor James F. McLaughlin set up a demonstration section of track for his Electro-Magnetic Traction System. It had a third rail centered between the two running rails, with the area in between paved over. The key to the system were electromagnets at the ends of the cars that energized the track ahead of the car and de-energized it once the car had passed. The attached illustrations are from THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, October 23, 1895.
McLaughlin seems not to have liked trolley poles. Earlier, he had invented a storage-battery car that ran on Philadelphia's Germantown line.
