About Us

Gantrail’s roots were in steel making but we now serve almost every industry that uses rail mounted cranes. We bridge the gap between the crane, which is mechanical, and the structure mounted steel rail. We supply fixings together with other materials, services and advice. The company Gantry Railing Limited was formed in 1965 and has been expanding its markets ever since.

Solving crane rail fastening problems

Gantrail is currently recognised around the world as a leading company in the field of crane rail fastening systems.

But the problems we solve were slow to be recognised. Installations still exist today incorporating historical problems despite one or more rail changes.

Examples of crane rail pad have also shown lives in excess of the rail itself.

Since those early days the range of products has been continuously extended and improved and in the early 1970s the concepts for the present designs were introduced.

But we have never just been about products.

True we earn the majority of our income from the sale of products but it is solving our customers’ problems that drive us. We retain a significant and valuable technical resource for solving your problems.
Gantrail - about us
Clips and pads installed in the 1970s still working. Designs have improved.
Gantrail - about us
Gantrail grew from the steel industry.

Our History

Our story began in the 1950’s on a green field site in Wales (UK) where a consortium of steel companies were to build a new works. The project was undertaken against a background of limited steel supplies. Consultants W S Atkins & Partners were the designers. There were many innovations in their designs. In the main mill building the girders were 3.6 metres in depth, much larger than anything previously used. These were the support for new very large section crane rails designed for the project.

The rail was 150 mm high with a 140 mm head width and 230 mm foot. It was decided to fix the rails to the girders by welding. Thus the rail was part of the welded structure. The design did not work and lead to fatigue cracking of the girders. Some very bright Atkins engineers came to the conclusion that the rail should not be part of the structure. Crane rail soft mounting was born. In 1991 Germany introduced a similar large rail to the DIN standard. The first effective resilient clips for fixing crane rails was made from steel but clips soon followed that have rubber resilient parts.

Shipbuilding and container handling soon followed as industries keen to solve their problems of rail installation.
Gantrail - about us
Felixstowe Port night working

Gantrail's development as a company

1950’s - Large integrated steelworks use heavy rail sections - problems with rail fixing and girders
- Development of soft mounting concepts
1960’s - Steel spring clips and steel reinforced pad widely used in steel industry
- Steel reinforced resilient crane rail pads
1965.. - Gantry Railing Limited formed
1970’s - New adjustable clips and continuous steel reinforced pad developed using revised concepts
- Wider use of elastomers to replace steel springs
1980’s - Products application grew
- The needs of other industries fully appreciated
1990’s - Product and application refinement
- Improved business technology and better techniques allow better solutions
2000’s - Gantrail concentrates on customer focus around the world
- We can now serve the world effectively from our base in Gloucester