The old British guys did have an expectation that they could use the same bike for fixed-wheel, gearhub and derailleur use. My only regret about my Mercian Vincitore road fixed-gear is that I didn't request long horizontal dropouts rather than track ends - it would have made wheel removal easier and been more historically correct for a club bike than the track ends, which make it very clearly a road-path bike a la the Holdsworth Typhoon of the 1950s.
Said Mercian, spec'ed to be a c.1935-60 club bike with modern parts dimensions, is far from a track bike, but I have associates who see the fixed-cog and assume it must be meant for a velodrome.
Russ Fitzgerald
Greenwood, SC USA