page_title: Catch points
hierarchical_section_title: Catch points
caption_attribution_description: British Rail Standard Class 4 No. 76079 climbs into Goathland railway station on the preserved North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Catch points, trap points and a sand-drag are shown in the photograph.
context_page_description: Catch points and trap points are types of turnout which act as railway safety devices. Both work by guiding railway carriages and trucks from a dangerous route onto a separate, safer track. Catch points are used to derail vehicles which are out of control on steep slopes. Trap points are used to protect main railway lines from unauthorised vehicles moving onto them from sidings or branch lines. Either of these track arrangements may lead the vehicles into a sand drag or safety siding, track arrangements which are used to safely stop them after they have left the main tracks.
  A derail is another device used for the same purposes as catch and trap points.
context_section_description: Catch points and trap points are types of turnout which act as railway safety devices. Both work by guiding railway carriages and trucks from a dangerous route onto a separate, safer track. Catch points are used to derail vehicles which are out of control on steep slopes (known as runaways). Trap points are used to protect main railway lines from unauthorised vehicles moving onto them from sidings or branch lines. Either of these track arrangements may lead the vehicles into a sand drag or safety siding, track arrangements which are used to safely stop them after they have left the main tracks.
  A derail is another device used for the same purposes as catch and trap points.
caption: Trap points and a sand drag (left) and catch points (right) protect the entrance to a single track on a steep grade
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