Train crews generally received the orders at the next station at which they stop, although sometimes orders were handed up to a locomotive "on the run" via a long staff or hoop. Train orders allowed train dispatchers to set up meets at sidings, force a train to wait at a siding for a priority train to pass from behind, and to keep at least one block spacing between trains going the same direction. Train orders could also reverse the superiority of trains, or give extra or inferior trains rights over superior trains in order to accommodate abnormal operating conditions.