Hi Joe
In H0 4x1 is probably a tad small for a 5:3:3? Inglenook with typical US equipment but it's easy to add a clip on "stick" beyond the modelled layout to form part of the yard lead. The total minimum length you need is the length of 8 cars plus the length of the loco plus the length of the first turnout with a couple of inches for clearance. That or any other fairly simple switching layout using equipment that you don't mind other people handlng can be a great way to give people at train shows , especially youngsters,? hands on experience rather than just looking at other people's work.
It's not just youngsters though. Some years ago, I was operating a friend's small, 5ft 6 ins by 18ins plus cassette based "fiddle yard", H0 layout at an exhibition near Paris (France) and got talking to a visitor who was clearly fascinated by our typically British intensity of operation . Rather regretfully, he told me that living in a small Paris apartment gave him no room for a working layout but he might manage a diorama. When I explained Inglenook Sidings to him- it can just be fitted into four feet with older European four wheel wagons - his obvious delight was wonderful to see; he really could have a working layout. I'll never know whether anything came of that conversation of course but it taught me that we all have the the possibility of starting the ball rolling.
