The Indiana Eastern Railroad is a

short-line railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...

in the states of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, operating a former Chesapeake & Ohio Railway line between

Richmond, Indiana Richmond () is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana, United States. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,720. It is the principal c ...

and Fernald, Ohio. It began operations in 2005 as a subsidiary of the Respondek Railroad, and interchanges freight with

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

at Cottage Grove. Its business headquarters is in

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,808 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, former governor of the Illinois Te ...

with its operations headquarters in Liberty, Indiana It is owned by

Regional Rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...

History

The trackage operated by the IERR was completed in 1904 by the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad as part of a

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

line. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway of Indiana, a newly incorporated subsidiary of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O), acquired the line at

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has Default (finance), stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the Collateral (finance), coll ...

sale in 1910. In 1978, the

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated u ...

, owner of the C&O and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), closed the steep approach to

downtown Cincinnati Downtown Cincinnati is one of the 52 List of Cincinnati neighborhoods, neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the central business district of the city, as well as the economic and symbiotic center of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Original ...

over Cheviot Hill in order to construct Queensgate Yard. Trains were rerouted to use the B&O's Indianapolis Subdivision via

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, rejoining the C&O at Cottage Grove. The much flatter portion of the line between Cottage Grove and the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center was kept in service. In 2005, CSX, successor to the Chessie System, leased the line between Fernald and Richmond to the newly created Indiana Eastern Railroad, which began operations on August 29. In November 2023, it was purchased by

.Regional Rail continues the expansion of its network in the Midwest via the acquisition of two short-line freight railroads
3i November 10, 2023

References

External links

Indiana Eastern Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indiana Eastern Railroad Indiana railroads Ohio railroads Railway companies established in 2005 Spin-offs of CSX Transportation