Heritage Units-Brake Stick Holder

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I've never had a satisfactory answer, either.  The best I've been able to piece together (based in large part of the fact that cars with constant contact side bearings are not restricted) is that empty hoppers and bulkhead flats are fairly light and present a large sail area which can lift one end of the car slightly.  The lift reduces the weight on the front truck enough to allow the car to rock and sway, increasing the chance of the car derailing.  Constant contact side bearings would help to prevent that problem, which is why (in my theory) they are not restricted.

When trains are being pushed, there's usually a car about 2/3rds deep that's in limbo.  At one end,
the lead locomotives have the slack stretched and at the other, the pushers have the slack bunched.
Is this "sail area"  ?  N&W's Engineering Department realized that the car at the transition point had
increased possibilities of derailing at turnouts.  Consequently, the Roanoke Roadway Material Shop
produced a home-made guard rail with additional steel welded to the head to keep the wheels from
lifting clear.  It's a time-consuming task because the welder usually starts with five guard rails for
modification, but because excessive heat can cause the rail to warp, time to cool has to be allowed.
Such beefed up guard rails weren't available from rail manufacturers.  The Roanoke-made
guard rails were applied in pusher territory ONLY, but I have seen some east of Petersburg.

They're not an eye-catcher unless you know what you're looking for. They're installed at the
Webster crossover, but Jimmy, yesterday at the south end of Cloverdale, there weren't any in
place.                                                                        Harry Bundy  

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