Brake wheels

Some flat cars of that era had brake wheel staffs that could be lowered down so the wheel was near deck level where trucks or other loads could drive over it without hitting it. Some had wheels on side mounts, or the  levers like you mention. .....DaveB 

Staff brakes can be retracted

Staff brakes can be retracted down along the staff to be flush with the deck. 

The side mounted handbrakes are a ratcheting style. They are the same type seen on autoracks. 

Some staff brake equipped flatcars have been retrofitted with ratcheting handbrakes.

thanks

I found a few pictures that are a bit too far away to see well but illustrate your comments

several also show a vertical post, are these for the driver to see in his mirror for backing guidance?

I also have noted several designs for side bolsters in these modified flats.   

Side posts like the ones on

Side posts like the ones on those CPR flats were common on flat cars converted and dedicated in TOFC service in the early-mid-1950s, when railroads experimented a variety of tie-down methods to secure trailers. By the 1960s the posts were something of anachronism.  Collapsible hitches like the widely used early ACF Model A design had proved their utility.  By the 1960s many railroads had removed the tall side posts from their early TOFC flat conversions, others let ‘em roll a while longer.  Some other less intrusive tie-down features were left in place; with the hitches collapsed, they supported use of the cars for other kinds of loads. 

drop-shaft brake wheels on flat cars

When the Lehigh Valley RR converted quad hoppers to 40' TOFC flats in the 1950s, they used Peacock drop-shaft brake wheels. I believe these were a commercial component that was also used on regular flat cars. They retracted vertically, so the brake wheel ended up at about the height of the deck. (Extra-long loads such as steel beams were often carried on multiple flats, so it was handy to have a brake wheel and shaft that was out of harm's way.)

The NP also used these on home-built TOFC flats; there's a good photo in  their NPHS magazine, the Mainstreeter, Spring 2019 page 23.

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awesome

Mark, your reference to Peacock, gave me the following, thanks. These are really great graphics to build from: I especially like the tilting one for kit bashing but even the cut lever detail is clear.

Mark, your reference to

Mark, your reference to Peacock, gave me the following, thanks. These are really great graphics to build from: