Terminus bay platform without a trap point

[clachnaharry]

I am curious to know what type of wagons can be legitimately left in a fully signalled bay platform at at terminus which does not have a trap point. I have seen photographs of coaches, parcels vans, fitted goods vans, and even unfitted mineral wagons (Thurso) left in bay platforms.

 

Why was this accepted practice when all sidings needed some form of trap or headshunt between them and the running road in case of runaways?

[The Stationmaster]

It's a difficult one to be hard and fast about - and practice varied not only between but within Companies/BR Regions.  I think the simplest way of summarising it would be that if there was a risk of a vehicle running away, or a train starting away and passing the protecting signal at danger then a trap would be provided (if it was practicable to do so).  So loads of caveats.

 

Now in later years - roughly mid/late '60s onwards - many bays which had been trapped lost the traps at times of resignalling schemes or relaying - logically one could link that to there being less risk being related by 'loose' vehicles.  But by the early/mid 1970s there was a very positive move towards eliminating traps where they existed in passenger lines in order to remove the risk of derailments as it was fast becoming statistically the case that the greatest risk was from inadvertent derailment rather than sidelong collision.