It began operations in 2005 as a subsidiary of the Respondek Railroad,[1] and interchanges freight with CSX at Cottage Grove.

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

[2] In 1978, the Chessie System, owner of the C&O and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), closed the steep approach to downtown Cincinnati over Cheviot Hill in order to construct Queensgate Yard.

[3] 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.