somersault signal

English

An LNER Pacific passing a GNR somersault signal

Noun

somersault signal (plural somersault signals)

1. (rail transport) A semaphore railway signal that is pivoted in the centre of its arm.
   • 2020 November 18, Howard Johnston, “The missing 'Lincs' and the sole survivor”, in Rail, pages 58–59:

     Realising their shortcomings, BR stripped out most of the smaller wayside stations between Peterborough and Grimsby on September 11 1961, although not those on the branches because there would have been nothing left to sustain them. Those that survived were working museums right to the end, with somersault signals and original interior fittings and signage.

Further reading

• Railway semaphore signal on Wikipedia.Wikipedia