My lost masterpiece?

In the preface to his extremely funny classic work of modern literature "Lake Wobegon Days", Garrison Keillor describes the early draft of a story called "Lucky Man" which he lost (on a train journey no less) and has never been able to recall or recreate in the intervening 35 plus years since its disappearance in the toilets at Portland Railroad depot.

Well I, like Garrison, have lost an early draft of a idea from many years ago. The fact that I have lost an idea is extremely galling. I normally file them so well.

My idea though was a concept for a model railroad layout and there the similarity ends. But it was a good idea. Actually time having blurred my memory insists it was a bloody good idea. But as hard as I try I can't recreate the niceties of my original sketch. I've tried below. The basic idea is there but it's not quite right.

The half relief water tower in the background isn't there and the cutaway multi-storey car park (parking ramp) is a 21st century addition. It's close. It recreates the feel and spirit of the original design.

But it's not just the design that is lost. It's the scribblings that would be on the paper too. Those probably told me which DPM buildings to use. Every time I see a DPM building kit I am reminded of this idea. Other observations too. All gone.

Sometimes when I'm operating at a model railway exhibition I hope that the full idea will come flooding back to me or that one day when rootling behind the back of a bookshelf I'll find a crumpled up yellowing piece of paper that has all the details and scribblings that will enable me to make this layout how I saw it in my minds eye many years ago...