History
The origin of the Iowa Northern Railway starts with the major portion of the Manly to Cedar Rapids line which was built in the 1870s by the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad. That line became part of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (Rock Island RR) and remained in Rock Island ownership until that company's bankruptcy in 1980.
On August 7, 1981 short line service between Cedar Rapids and Vinton and from Shell Rock to Nora Springs started. By mid-1982, the operations had been connected and expanded to the present size. Iowa Northern Railway was incorporated in 1984, becoming one of the first short-line railroads in the state of Iowa and in July 1984 purchased its line from the bankrupt Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad estate for $5.4 million.
The railroad was originally owned by a group of grain elevators located along the line but was sold in 1994 to Iron Road Railways (IRR), a holding company based in Alexandria, Virginia and Livonia, Michigan. In July 1994, IANR abandoned a 14-mile (23 km) branch from Vinton to Dysart, Iowa.
In 2002, following the bankruptcy and dissolution of IRR, the IANR was taken over by former IRR director Daniel Sabin.
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