The AI-powered English dictionary
plural cantrails
(rail transport, UK) A length of metal (earlier timber) supporting the outer edge of the roof of a railway carriage; also found on locomotives, buses and coaches. quotations examples
As was briefly reported last month, the S.R. is experimenting with the Continental method of making the class of train accommodation more conspicuous by painting a coloured strip below the cantrail of the coaches.
1960 March, “Talking of Trains: "Rainbow" trains on the S.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 135