Designing a model railroad is a continuing education. After Model Railroader (May, 1999) published the article on my staging yard controller, I experimented with ways to make staging even easier. This photo shows the current approach.
I built a small drawer with numbered compartments, one for each staging track. Inexpensive, yet free-rolling drawer slides are available at most home improvement stores; mine cost about $6.00 per pair.
Outbound crews are given a card describing the purpose of their train, and which track it's on in the staging yard. They pull the car cards and waybills from the drawer and go on their way. Upon arrival, inbound crews pull into the track specified on the train description card, and deposit their paperwork in the associated drawer pocket.
After building the drawer, the next logical step was to incorporate the staging yard controller panel into the drawer. A simple panel holds the controls (and a train register box for register stations). A three-color trackside signal delineates the start of the staging yard, and shows train progress in it. One nice touch is the yellow station sign that matches those at modeled towns; it serves to emphasize that this drawer is the destination town.
By the way, the clock face - made on my personal computer - is only 3-1/2 inches in diameter. Fast clocks are mounted in assemblies that hang beneath the benchwork, and usually incorporate a sloped shelf to hold paperwork. I find it very convenient to glance at a clock installed slightly below the layout, instead of high on the wall or a lighting valance. There are nine fast clocks around the layout, plus two more in the dispatcher's office (one faces the crew lounge).