BF Tower operated under the supervision of the Pennsylvania Railroad dispatcher in Columbus, Ohio, who issued written orders to train crews when they left their terminals, including instructions for picking up or dropping off cars, waiting on sidings, or changing lines. Working from the tower's second floor, the operator used railroad Morse code to relay messages among towers, dispatchers, trains, and stations, and the telegraphic code "BF" identified Bradford. From trackside, the operator handed train orders to engineers and conductors on approaching trains with an order hoop to warn of conditions ahead such as weather, opposing trains, and track gangs. As the dispatcher's eyes and ears, the operator was responsible for train movements through his territory and for knowing what was happening at the moment. The interlocking tower also controlled the switches and signals that routed trains properly through the junction traffic among Columbus, Chicago, Indianapolis, and tracks leading to the classification yards. At Bradford, the main line split south to Indianapolis by way of Greenville and north to Logansport by way of Union City. Some switches were controlled mechanically by rods along the track moved by large hand-thrown levers in the tower, while other signals and switches, including some miles away, were controlled electrically. The interlocking mechanism, connecting the second and first floors to rods leading to track switches and signals, provided a safety feature that linked their operation. Switches controlled the position of the rails and thus the train's direction, while position light signals with three amber lights indicated proceed when vertical, caution when diagonal, and stop when horizontal. This position light system replaced the mechanical blade semaphore signal next to the tower, and the signal maintainer tested the signals and switches with relays and batteries on the first floor. Replaced by centralized traffic control, the tower remains a monument to the early days of low-tech railroading.