The queuing reminds me of old "tote board" technology. I can't find a reference easily but these were machines used to automatically figure and display parimutu

The queuing reminds me of old "tote board" technology. I can't find a reference easily but these were machines used to automatically figure and display parimutuel payouts at horse tracks. One particular kind of them would have the cashiers' terminals emit ball bearings on a track back at the central (digital but electromechanical) counter for each betting pool. This arrangement allowed the cashiers to sell as fast as they liked without jamming the works, and then allowed the calculation/display of odds to be "eventually consistent".