Iron Road Railways Incorporated (IRR) was a railroad holding company which owned several short line railroads in the U.S. state of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, as well as the Canadian provinces of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. IRR was formed in 1994 and headquartered in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

. Its president was Robert T. Schmidt and officers included Benjamin F. Collins, John F. DePodesta, and Daniel Sabin. IRR owned the following subsidiaries:

Subsidiaries

Canadian American Railroad The Canadian American Railroad was a railroad that operated between Brownville Junction, Maine and Lennoxville, Quebec. The railroad later expanded west to Farnham, Quebec and then St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec with running rights on Canadian ...

(CDAC) which operated between Brownville Junction, Maine and

Lennoxville, Quebec Lennoxville () is an ''arrondissement'', or borough, of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Lennoxville is located at the confluence of the St. Francis and Massawippi Rivers approximately five kilometres south of downtown Sherbrooke. Lenn ...

. The line from Brownville Junction to Lennoxville was a former

CP Rail The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, known unt ...

mainline consisting of the Moosehead and Megantic subdivisions; at the time of acquisition it was operated by CP Rail as the

Canadian Atlantic Railway The Canadian Atlantic Railway (CAR) was a Canadian and U.S. railway that existed from 1988 to 1994. The CAR was created in September 1988 as a business unit of CP Rail (CPR) to serve the Maritime Provinces and the state of Maine. Its creation ...

. Operation was transferred by CP Rail to CDAC in early January 1995 and officially sold in March 1995. Canadian American Railroad was formed in 1994 as a joint venture by IRR (

Alexandria, VA Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

) and Fieldcrest Cannon Inc. (

Kannapolis, NC Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte, and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984 ...

); this joint venture lasted for 8 months in order to complete the acquisition of the former CP Rail property, at which time IRR purchased the interest of Fieldrest Cannon in CDAC to assume complete control. In 1996, CDAC was extended west by to

Farnham, Quebec Farnham is a city in Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 10,149, making it the second most populated community in the RCM. History The city of ...

following purchase from CP Rail. At that time, CDAC received trackage rights from CP Rail over the remaining into Montreal. *

Bangor and Aroostook Railroad The Bangor and Aroostook Railroad was a United States railroad company that brought rail service to Aroostook County, Maine, Aroostook County in northern Maine. Brightly-painted BAR boxcars attracted national attention in the 1950s. First-genera ...

(BAR) operated between

Searsport, Maine Searsport is an incorporated town and deep water seaport located at the confluence of the Penobscot River estuary and the Penobscot Bay immediately northwest of Sears Island and Cape Jellison in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The populat ...

Madawaska, Maine Madawaska is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,867 at the 2020 census. Madawaska is opposite Edmundston, Madawaska County in New Brunswick, Canada, to which it is connected by the Edmundston–Madawaska B ...

with branches to Van Buren,

Caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

, Presque Isle,

Limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and Houlton. Sale of the system was finalized in March 1995 through a joint venture by IRR (

) and Fieldcrest Cannon Inc. (

); this joint venture lasted for 8 months in order to complete the acquisition of the BAR property, at which time IRR purchased the interest of Fieldrest Cannon in order to assume complete control. * Windsor and Hantsport Railway (WHR) which operated between Windsor Junction, Nova Scotia to New Minas, Nova Scotia with a branch from

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

. This was a portion of a former

subsidiary known as the

Dominion Atlantic Railway The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia in Canada, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley. The Dominion Atlantic Railway (DAR) was unusually divers ...

. Sale of the system was completed on August 27, 1994. * Van Buren Bridge and Construction Company (VBB) which operated between Cyr Junction, New Brunswick (south of St. Leonard) to

Grand Falls, New Brunswick Grand Falls () is a town in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada, on the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River. Its name comes from a waterfall created by a series of rock ledges over which the river drops . 2023 New Brunswick local ...

. This was a portion of the former

Edmundston subdivision that used trackage rights over CN to access interchange with BAR at the Van Buren - St. Leonard railroad bridge. VBB leased the line in March 1994. * Quebec Southern Railway (QS) and

Northern Vermont Railroad Northern Vermont Railroad (Northern Vermont Railroad Company Incorporated) (reporting remark NVR) was a former class III railroad that operated in Vermont from 1996 to 2002. NVR was based in Newport, Vermont. The Northern Vermont Railroad was ...

(NV), which operated between Brookport, Quebec and

Wells River, Vermont Wells River is a village in the town of Newbury in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 431 at the 2020 census. The village center is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 5 and 302. The village center (the portion n ...

. This was the former

Newport, Lyndonville and a portion of the Beebe subdivisions. Sale of the system was completed in September 1996 and extended service to the Vermont communities of Richford,

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

St. Johnsbury St. Johnsbury (known locally as "St. J") is the shire town (county seat) of Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,364. St. Johnsbury is situated on the Passumpsic River and is located approximatel ...

and Lyndonville. * Iowa Northern Railway (IANR), which operates between

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

and Manly, Iowa. IANR was formed in 1980 by several grain elevator operators to maintain rail service over a former

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At ...

line while that company entered bankruptcy. The line was purchased by IANR in 1984 and the company was purchased by Iron Road Railways in 1994.

2002 bankruptcy and divestment

In 2002, IRR's "Bangor and Aroostook System" (BAR, CDAC, VBB, and QS/NV) entered bankruptcy protection and service became jeopardized. Both

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

and

New Brunswick Southern Railway The New Brunswick Southern Railway Company Limited is a Canadian short line railway owned by the New Brunswick Railway Company Limited, a holding company that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the industrial conglo ...

applied to the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is an independent federal agency that serves as an adjudicatory board. The board was created in 1996 following the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and absorbed regula ...

for permission to operate former BAR lines that served major industrial customers in northern Maine. CN was granted permission to operate from

Van Buren, Maine Van Buren is a town on the Saint John River in Aroostook County, Maine, United States; located across from Saint-Leonard, New Brunswick, Canada. The population was 2,038 at the 2020 census. It is named after U.S. President Martin Van Buren. ...

, while NBSR was granted permission to operate former BAR lines from Brownville Junction south to Searsport and north to Madawaska; neither applications became necessary after the BAR lines were sold. The BAR, CDAC, and part of the QS/NV were sold in October 2002 to

Rail World Rail World is a rail transport holding company. Its specialties include railway management, consulting, investment, privatizations, and restructurings. Its purpose is to promote rail industry privatization by bringing together government bodies ...

which reorganized the lines under its newly formed subsidiary Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway. The NV south of Newport to

was purchased by the state of

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

and operation contracted to Washington County Railroad. The VBB had been operated on tracks leased from owner

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

. In January 2003, Canadian Pacific sold this small line to

. Former IRR president Robert T. Schmidt retained ownership of the Windsor and Hantsport Railway while another former IRR officer Daniel Sabin took ownership of the Iowa Northern Railway.

References

{{Reflist United States railroad holding companies Canadian railroad holding companies Companies based in Alexandria, Virginia 1994 establishments in Virginia