The CERA and its sister railroad, the Central Railroad of Indiana, were acquired by RailTex's Indiana & Ohio Railway in 1998, which became a RailAmerica holding in 2000; Genesee & Wyoming acquired RailAmerica in 2012.

[1] CERA was formed in 1989 when Norfolk Southern leased 24 miles of its former Nickel Plate Road "Clover Leaf Route" between Kokomo and Marion, through NS's "Thoroughbred Shortline program.

The CERA hauled around 8,000 carloads in 2008, and can handle freight cars weighing up to 286,000 pounds (143 short tons/129.7 tonnes).

[3][1] For a time, Norfolk Southern interchanged with CERA via its Frankfort to Kokomo line.

One leg of the railroad begins near Marion at the unincorporated town of Michaelsville, passes west-southwest through Herbst, Swayzee and Sims, then through the Howard County communities of Sycamore, Greentown, and finally Kokomo.