One article had discussed the problem of recharging the batteries, with the author stating that it is annoying, but it's less trouble than dealing with dirty rails.
Some dead rails have recharging stations, and others actually recharge from the tracks. While this might be convenient, it returns the problem of having wires on your lay-out. Some articles complain that this recharging does not work well, while others state that it does--PERHAPS we are dealing with a variety of different types here.
Me? I bought heavy-duty batteries for my dead rail Christmas train and ran it for two months. Then I removed the batteries, put them into a box of used batteries and have used them for clocks, flashlights, etc., with no problems.
