Historical note
Although facing points are essential to the smooth flow of traffic, there will be a tendancy to guide a derailed wheel, running outside of the rail, in the direction of the turnout. In the nineteenth century facing points were the source of numerous more-or-less minor mishaps. A major accident at Wigan served to confirm, what Nock refers to as "the abhorrence of facing points in mid-Victorian days".
It was just this eventuality that early railway builders in Britain were keen to guard against and facing points, except at junctions were avoided. Indeed, when the Settle - Carlisle line was constructed in 1876 there was not a single example of facing points between Settle Junction and Carlisle

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