Rail cooling method

A rail cooling method for performing forced cooling on a head and a foot of a hot-rolled rail, the rail cooling method comprising:

• calculating an estimated amount of warp at an ambient temperature, based on a formula, that is a regression value obtained by regression calculations using temperatures including (1) a head cooling start temperature Th0, (2) a head cooling end temperature Th1, (3) a foot cooling start temperature Tf0, and (4) a foot cooling end temperature Tf1, wherein the formula is expressed as:
• the estimated amount of warp at the ambient temperature=−1.06Th0+4.02Th1+2.59Tf0−2.86Tf1+constant;
• measuring an actual amount of warp of the rail that is a warp that the rail actually has when the rail is cooled to the ambient temperature after a forced cooling;
• calculating, based on a relation between the actual amount of warp and the estimated amount of warp at the ambient temperature, a target value or a target value range for each of the temperatures Th0, Th1, Tf0, Tf1 such that an amount of warp of the rail at a normal temperature falls within a permissive range;
• and
• setting a cooling condition in accordance with the target value or the target value range to perform the forced cooling on the head and the foot.