SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES:

Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements presented herein include the accounts of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and its subsidiaries. The consolidated financial statements are presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (U.S. GAAP) as codified in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (Codification). All significant intercompany transactions and accounts have been eliminated in consolidation.

Revenue Recognition

Railroad revenues are estimated and recognized as shipments initially move onto the Company’s tracks, which, due to the relatively short duration of haul, is not materially different from the recognition of revenues as shipments progress. Industrial switching and other service revenues are recognized as such services are provided.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid instruments with a maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents.

Materials and Supplies

Materials and supplies consist of purchased items for improvement and maintenance of road property and equipment and are stated at the lower of average cost or market. Materials and supplies are removed from inventory using the average cost method.

Business Combinations

The Company accounts for businesses it acquires using the acquisition method of accounting. Under this method, all acquisition-related costs are expensed as incurred. The Company records the underlying net assets at their respective acquisition-date fair values. As part of this process, the Company identifies and attributes values and estimated lives to property and equipment and intangible assets acquired. These determinations involve significant estimates and assumptions, including those with respect to future cash flows, discount rates and asset lives, and therefore require considerable judgment. These determinations affect the amount of depreciation and amortization expense recognized in future periods. The results of operations of acquired businesses are included in the consolidated statement of operations beginning on the respective business’s acquisition date.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are carried at cost. Major renewals or improvements to property and equipment are capitalized, while routine maintenance and repairs are expensed when incurred. The Company incurs maintenance and repair expenses to keep its operations safe and fit for existing purpose. Major renewals or improvements are undertaken to extend the useful life or increase the functionality of the asset, or both. Other than a de minimis threshold under which costs are expensed as incurred, the Company does not apply pre-defined capitalization thresholds when assessing spending for classification among capital or expense.

Unlike the Class I railroads that operate over extensive contiguous rail networks, the Company’s short line and regional railroads are geographically disparate businesses that transport freight over relatively short distances. As a result, the Company typically incurs minimal spending on self-constructed assets and, instead, the vast majority of its capital spending relates to purchased assets installed by professional contractors. In addition, the Company generally does not incur significant rail grinding or ballast cleaning expenses. However, if and when such costs are incurred, they are expensed.

Depreciation is provided on the straight-line method over the useful lives of the property and equipment. The following table sets forth the estimated useful lives of the Company’s major classes of property and equipment:



	Estimated Useful Life
Property	Minimum	Maximum
Buildings and leasehold improvements (subject to term of lease)	3	30
Bridges/tunnels/culverts	20	50
Track property	5	50

Equipment:
Computer equipment	2	7
Locomotives and rail cars	5	30
Vehicles and mobile equipment	5	10
Signals and crossing equipment	10	30
Track equipment	5	10
Other equipment	3	20

The Company reviews its long-lived tangible assets for impairment whenever events and circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of such assets may not be recoverable. When factors indicate that assets may not be recoverable, the Company uses an estimate of the related undiscounted future cash flows over the remaining lives of assets in measuring whether or not impairment has occurred. If impairment is identified, a loss would be reported to the extent that the carrying value of the related assets exceeds the fair value of those assets as determined by valuation techniques applicable in the circumstances. Losses from impairment of assets are charged to net (gain)/loss on sale and impairment of assets within operating expenses.

Gains or losses on sales, including sales of assets removed during track and equipment upgrade projects, or losses incurred through other dispositions, such as unanticipated retirement or destruction, are credited or charged to net (gain)/loss on sale and impairment of assets within operating expenses. Gains are recorded when realized if the sale value exceeds the remaining carrying value of the respective property and equipment. If the estimated salvage value is less than the remaining carrying value, the Company records the loss incurred equal to the respective asset’s carrying value less salvage value. There were no material losses incurred through other dispositions from unanticipated or unusual events in the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 or 2009.

Grants from Outside Parties

Grants from outside parties are recorded as long-term liabilities and are amortized as a reduction to depreciation expense over the same period during which the associated assets are depreciated.

Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets

The Company reviews the carrying values of goodwill and identifiable intangible assets with indefinite lives at least annually to assess impairment since these assets are not amortized. The Company performs its annual impairment review as of November 30 of each year. No impairment was recognized for the years ended December 31, 2011 or 2010. Additionally, the Company reviews the carrying value of any intangible asset or goodwill whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that its carrying amount may not be recoverable. The determination of fair value involves significant management judgment. Impairments are expensed when incurred.

For indefinite-lived intangible assets, the impairment test compares the fair value of an intangible asset with its carrying amount. If the carrying amount of an intangible asset exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss shall be recognized in an amount equal to that excess.

For goodwill, a two-step impairment model is used. The first step compares the fair value of a respective reporting unit with its carrying amount, including goodwill. The estimate of fair value of the respective reporting unit is based on the best information available as of the date of assessment, which primarily incorporates certain factors including the Company’s assumptions about operating results, business plans, income projections, anticipated future cash flows and market data. Second, if the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying amount, goodwill would be considered impaired. The second step measures the goodwill impairment as the excess of recorded goodwill over its implied fair value.

Amortizable Intangible Assets

The Company is required to perform an impairment test on amortizable intangible assets when specific impairment indicators are present. The Company has amortizable intangible assets valued primarily as service agreements, customer contracts or relationships and track access agreements. These intangible assets are generally amortized on a straight-line basis over the expected economic longevity of the the facility served, customer relationship, or the length of the contract or agreement including expected renewals.

Derailment and Property Damages, Personal Injuries and Third-Party Claims

The Company maintains property and liability insurance coverage to mitigate the financial risk of providing rail and rail-related services. The Company’s primary liability policies have a self-insured retention of up to $0.5 million per occurrence. With respect to the transportation of hazardous commodities, the liability policy covers sudden releases of hazardous materials, including expenses related to evacuation, as a result of a railroad accident. Personal injuries associated with grade crossing accidents are also covered under the Company’s liability policies. Accruals for Federal Employment Liability Act (FELA) claims by the Company’s railroad employees and third-party personal injury or other claims are recorded in the period when such claims are determined to be probable and estimable. These estimates are updated in future periods as information develops. The Company’s property damage policies have various self-insured retentions, which vary based on type and location of the incident, of up to $1.0 million.

Earnings per Share

Common shares issuable under unexercised stock options calculated under the treasury stock method and weighted average Class B common shares outstanding are the only reconciling items between the Company’s basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding. The total number of options used to calculate weighted average share equivalents for diluted earnings per share as of December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, was as follows (in thousands):



	2011	2010	2009
Options used to calculate weighted average share equivalents	1,460	1,801	2,296

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 (in thousands, except per share amounts):



	2011			2010		2009
Numerators:
Amounts attributable to Genesee & Wyoming Inc. common stockholders:
Income from continuing operations, net of tax	$	119,493		$	78,669	$	59,929
(Loss)/income from discontinued operations, net of tax	(9		)	2,591		1,398
Net income	$	119,484		$	81,260	$	61,327

Denominators:
Weighted average Class A common shares outstanding—Basic	39,912			38,886		36,146
Weighted average Class B common shares outstanding	2,257			2,528		2,561
Dilutive effect of employee stock grants	603			475		267
Weighted average shares—Diluted	42,772			41,889		38,974
Earnings per common share attributable to Genesee & Wyoming Inc. common stockholders:

Basic:
Earnings per common share from continuing operations	$	2.99		$	2.02	$	1.66
Earnings per common share from discontinued operations	—			0.07		0.04
Earnings per common share	$	2.99		$	2.09	$	1.70

Diluted:
Earnings per common share from continuing operations	$	2.79		$	1.88	$	1.54
Earnings per common share from discontinued operations	—			0.06		0.04
Earnings per common share	$	2.79		$	1.94	$	1.57

On June 15, 2009, the Company completed a public offering of 4.6 million shares of its Class A common stock at $24.50 per share.

The following total number of Class A common stock issuable under the assumed exercises of stock options computed based on the treasury stock method were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per common share, as the effect of including these shares would have been anti-dilutive (in thousands):



	2011	2010	2009
Anti-dilutive shares	126	312	1,597

Income Taxes

The Company files a consolidated United States federal income tax return, which includes all of its United States subsidiaries. Each of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries files appropriate income tax returns in each of their respective countries. No provision is made for the United States income taxes applicable to the undistributed earnings of controlled foreign subsidiaries as it is the intention of management to fully utilize those earnings in the operations of foreign subsidiaries. The provision for, or benefit from, income taxes includes deferred taxes resulting from temporary differences using a balance sheet approach. Such temporary differences result primarily from differences in the carrying value of assets and liabilities for financial reporting and tax purposes. Future realization of deferred income tax assets is dependent upon the Company’s ability to generate sufficient taxable income. The Company evaluates on a quarterly basis whether, based on all available evidence, the deferred income tax assets will be realizable. Valuation allowances are established when it is estimated that it is more likely than not that the tax benefit of the deferred tax asset will not be realized.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors (Compensation Committee) has discretion to determine grantees, grant dates, amounts of grants, vesting and expiration dates for stock-based compensation awarded to the Company’s employees through the Company’s Second Amended and Restated 2004 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the Omnibus Plan). The Omnibus Plan permits the issuance of stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units and any other form of award established by the Compensation Committee, in each case consistent with the Omnibus Plan’s purpose. Under the terms of the awards, equity grants for employees generally vest over three years and equity grants for directors vest over their respective terms as directors.

The grant date fair value of non-vested shares, less estimated forfeitures, is recorded to compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the vesting period. The fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes pricing model and straight-line amortization of compensation expense is recorded over the requisite service period of the grant. Two assumptions in the Black-Scholes pricing model require management judgment: the life of the option and volatility of the stock over the life of the option. The assumption for the life is based on historical experience and is estimated for each grant. The assumption for the volatility of the stock is based on a combination of historical and implied volatility. The fair value of our restricted stock and restricted stock units is based on the closing market price of the Company’s Class A common stock on the date of grant.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company applies the following three-level hierarchy of valuation inputs for measuring fair value:


•	Level 1 – Quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets that the Company has the ability to access at the measurement date.


•	Level 2 – Quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable market data.


•	Level 3 – Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable.

Foreign Currency

The financial statements of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries were prepared in the local currency of the respective subsidiary and translated into United States dollars based on the exchange rate at the end of the period for balance sheet items and, for the statement of operations, at the average rate for the statement period. Currency translation adjustments are reflected within the equity section of the balance sheet and are included in accumulated other comprehensive income. Cumulative translation adjustments are recognized in the consolidated statement of operations upon substantial or complete liquidation of the underlying investment in the foreign subsidiary.

Management Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to use judgment and to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates using management judgment are made in the areas of recoverability and useful life of assets, as well as liabilities for casualty claims and income taxes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Risks and Uncertainties

The global economy, which experienced a significant downturn in late 2008 and throughout 2009 that included widespread recessionary conditions, high levels of unemployment, significant distress of global financial institutions, extreme volatility in security prices, severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, rating downgrades of certain investments and declining valuations of others, began to improve in 2010. While some economic indicators trended positively, the overall rate of global recovery experienced during 2011 has been uneven and uncertainty remains over the stability of the recovery. There can be no assurance that any of the recent economic improvements will be broad-based and sustainable or that they will enhance conditions in markets relevant to the Company. In addition, it is difficult to determine how the general macroeconomic and business conditions will impact the Company’s customers, suppliers and business in general. The Company is required to assess for potential impairment of non-current assets whenever events or changes in circumstances, including economic circumstances, indicate that the respective asset’s carrying amount may not be recoverable. A decline in current macroeconomic or financial conditions could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operating results, financial condition and liquidity