How to Bend Rail for a Curve on the Railroad

Find out how we Bend Rail to make a Curved section of track.

We'll show you several different methods of bending rail that we have used to get
a straight stick of rail to follow a curve radius. This is not main line track, the video
was taken on excepted track, meaning the track speed there is 10 MPH. It is the track
they use when loading the coal cars at the prep plant.

Here is the link to watch the video where I was tamping and the
rail broke on curve 11 that I had told you about in this video:

Made November 12, 16, 2022

Disclaimer: I am an employee of Iron Synergy at Cumberland
Mine. My job is railroad track maintenance. I am very fortunate to
have this job and everyone at the mine is very fortunate to have
Iron Synergy as it's current owner. Our past owners had every
intention of shutting this mine down, but Iron Synergy took
over and have kept this mine alive.

Please understand: I am NOT in any way an official or unofficial
spokes person for Iron Synergy or Cumberland Mine. Any viewpoints,
opinions or anything that I show in the videos, or write in the video
descriptions or any answer to any comment, should NEVER be
misconstrued or interpreted as being in any way shape or form,
any kind of official or unofficial statement from Iron Synergy,
Cumberland Mine, any of the mine's management, any of the
contractors that may be shown in any video, nor of any of
my fellow co-wokers.

Any viewpoints or opinions I may make in the videos, in the descriptions,
or in any answer to a comment is strictly that of my own and NOT an
official or unofficial statement or viewpoint that Iron Synergy or
any one at Iron Synergy or Cumberland Mine necessarily has or makes.

Again, we are very fortunate to have Iron Synergy as our current owners.
Please, when making a comment be respectful of Iron Synergy, Cumberland
Mine, my fellow coworkers and also any contractors that may be
shown. Thank You, Dave

#HowBendRail#BendRailCurve

[gutterguru]

Great video Dave. Seeing the amount of followers and the number of comments you have a lot of people interested in “railroadin” you bringing information to the masses maybe people will have a better respect for what we do. And the crew working in the rain shows we are hard workers because we work in all weather conditions

[michaelball]

People would be surprised how much flex rail has. My wife was shocked when I told her we bend rail around a curve by hand most of the time.

[gmac]

The man's personality is definitely infectious. In a good way. 😊

[johnnycee]

I keep coming back because we'll, I really enjoy train and rail education but Dave is the perfect person for this, very knowledgeable and cordial. Thanks Dave, you're the best buddy.

[colemanerik]

When I worked for a industrial RR for one summer we did some work replacing some tie plates. I could not aim the nail hammer at all. Props to the the guys that fix rail all the time. I stuck to being a brakeman lol.

[alandaters]

Thanks for another lesson! I wouldn't have thought that bending a rail was that easy, but that bar does have a lot of leverage.

[stanleyprusinski]

Thanks Dave. Good reminder of the hard work you guys do, year round, to keep America rolling. Stay safe. 👍

[raymondsprengelmeyer]

I always wondered how you bent the rail. You made it look easy Dave! Thank you for sharing!

[johndanaher]

While walking the NCR Trail 2 weeks ago, my friend asked how the rail got bent. I said they probably did it gradually and now I can show him. Thanks for the timely video, sir. They are always informative and fun to watch. OH, and as an aside, I was telling him how Lincoln would have seen the same vistas we were seeing on his way to Gettysburg. And as it turned out, he traveled on that line 159 years to the day we were walking along it.

[petezapadka]

Dave, that is absolutely amazing! I never imagined you had to bend the rail, or even that it COULD be bent. And what a mess you have to work in . . . thank you for another great train teaching moment!

[sjwatt]

Man, when I was a kid I always thought everything about railroads was rock solid, now I realize it’s all springy sproingy rubber, and that it’s about designing it to work together and not fall apart. Wow!

[kenbtheman]

Great video Dave. I was just telling some friends of mine a few days ago that rail was bent by hand. They didn't believe me. Now I have the proof to show them. Keep the videos coming. 👍

[DanielPRails]

As always great video. Thanks for throwing it together and sharing it with us 👍

[TealPetunia]

Thank you, Dave! My daughter and I were wondering how rail was bent and your video was really fun and informative. :)

[PlanetMojo]

Thanks for the informative video Dave! I one saw a video of rail crews dropping-off very long welded rail, and was surprised at how it looked like spaghetti it was so flexible! It wobbled and twisted all over the place! It's real interesting to see how it's done with individual sticks like this — the way it was done the first hundred years or-so on the main lines, and lives on on the numerous short line railroads throughout the country 😊

[mikewoodbury]

Dave that was awesome! Thank you for showing us how to repair rail. Working with you must fun your always in good spirits even if it’s not the best of situations! Wish my guys could have that type of mentality!!!

[valeriebassett]

Another fine job and video by Dave! Steve and I love watching your videos. You bring so much to our lives! God bless you and your family.

[jozefbubez]

At age almost 74, this has been quite an education for me. Here in the UK, I think virtually all railway lines are continuous rail and have been since some time in the 60s. If we look carefully in some of our rail terminii, we might see this old track joined with what we call 'fishplates' as the speed is slow with trains coming to a halt.
Also, in l'il olde England I have never seen spikes. The rails have always been mounted on chairs and in the old days held in place with wooden wedges, then a mega-scale spring clip of a kind.
Keep up the good work! Now we know! Pry it over with a bar(s) and if that isn't enough, here I think they have a hydraulic device of some sort.

[richdiscoveries]

That was oddly interesting, thank you for sharing. This is just one of those random things I would think about and wonder, and now I know how it's done

[russelltrupia]

Awesome video Dave we always learn something new.👍👍