Read it, defiantly isn't the best way to make a improvised anvil. Checkout this thread to give you an idea about the best improvised anvils: The one thing you will notice about them is that they have a lot of mass under where you will be forging, where as that type of railroad anvil doesn't. If you have a long piece of rail stand it up length wise, that way you have the mass of the rail under where you will be forging.