Traverser with overhead wire - sideways pantograph scraping?

[009 micro modeller]

For my new micro layout project, I will eventually need to build a (non-scenic, fiddle yard) traverser. Fairly simple, only one track on the traverser deck and two positions. The reasons for going with live overhead are explained in the linked thread but it’s basically because normal 2-rail isn’t available to me and at this point I’m more interested in the overhead wire option than DCC or radio control.

 

Anyway, the problem relates to the sideways movement of the traverser. On real traversers they seem to drop the pantograph while the traverser is being moved sideways, then raise it again once in the new position, with a separate overhead wire over each track (so the wire doesn’t have to move with the traverser deck). Dropping the pantograph every time doesn’t seem very practical on a model, and I don’t particularly like the idea of a section of wire (or solid overhead conductor) that moves with the traverser deck either (too much precise alignment of switches, joins etc.).
 

However, I can’t just de-wire the pantograph in between because it will spring up and then need pushing back down; I need to keep it at the same height as when it’s under the wires. The obvious solution seems to be a flat metal sheet or mesh so that the sprung pantograph is always kept under the wire height, even when the traverser deck is being moved sideways. So my question is: is this is likely to scrape and damage the pantograph? It seems as though there could be problems because, while the pantograph is designed to be scraped by the overhead wire, this is usually by a thin wire running parallel to the track the loco is on, not by a flat sheet at right angles to it.