This was my attempt at creating a dust cover for the railroad. Yes, there's a 4'x6' HO scale railroad under that sheet. I say 'was' because I have scrapped this idea altogether. Getting the sheet up and over the hoops then off again would have wreaked havoc on the poor occupants of the town below, knocking down trees and sending people and autos and maybe even locomotives to the floor below. That will never do.
Here are the wire hoops, minus the sheet. Had the sheet been easier to put in place I could have shortened the hoops to cover the ends fully. But that wasn't the only problem. The end hoops were being pulled inward by the weight of the sheet. Reinforcing the hoops somehow would run counter to the simplicity and ease of operation I was shooting for. This idea, in theory held up but in practice, wasn't sound.
Finally, here is an image of the brass tubing I used as a hoop guide to keep the wire from enlarging the hole over time. Removing and installing the stiff wire hoops was not difficult. However, with four hoops evenly spaced, two of the tubes ended up in streets and one in a future parking area. Sure, I could place an auto over the hole, but I'd have to move them each time I wanted to install the wires. Not ideal.
So what to do? I called in my wife and we put our heads together. After a brief brainstorm we arrived at the same conclusion. I will build a lid. The lid will contain lighting. LED lighting. I will install pulleys and a winch to raise the lid and it will become a valance. Yes, I know, I detest valences. This one will be different. Hopefully.
