Derivative Financial Instruments (Details)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended							3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended													9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 01, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 01, 2010 AUD	Oct. 02, 2008 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Contingent forward sale contract [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Contingent forward sale contract [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Contingent forward sale contract [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Contingent forward sale contract [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Cross-currency swap [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Cross-currency swap [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Cross-currency swap [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Cross-currency swap [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 01, 2010 FreightLink [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 01, 2010 FreightLink [Member] AUD	Sep. 30, 2012 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] Contingent forward sale contract [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] Contingent forward sale contract [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] Cross-currency swap [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] Interest rate swap [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] Interest rate swap [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 23, 2012 The Carlyle Group [Member] RailAmerica [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 17, 2012 The Carlyle Group [Member] RailAmerica [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 AUD BBSW Interest Rate [Member] Cross-currency swap [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Libor Interest Rate [Member] Cross-currency swap [Member]
Derivatives [Line Items]
Notional amount of interest rate derivatives									$ 120,000,000
Derivative, fixed interest rate									3.88%
Fair value of derivative liability																				50,106,000	0	63,244,000	14,195,000		4,429,000	7,025,000
Gain/loss reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive into earnings			0
Third-party debt associated with foreign currency debt	223,900,000		223,900,000
Acquisition of assets																		320,000,000	331,900,000
Notional amount of foreign currency derivatives							100,600,000	105,000,000
Derivative, description of variable rate basis																													Australian dollar BBSW plus 3.125%	LIBOR plus 2.48%
Interest expense, net														(1,051,000)	(1,566,000)	(3,572,000)	(4,526,000)
Other income/(expense), net	853,000	(1,064,000)	1,852,000	(595,000)										(70,000)	103,000	218,000	222,000
Derivative liability, net																								8,700,000
Minimum private placement of mandatorily convertible preferred stock																											350,000,000
Series A-1 Preferred Stock conversion shares																											17.1
Rate stock price must exceed conversion price for optional Series A-1 Preferred Stock conversion																											130.00%
Price stock price must exceed for optional Series A-1 Preferred Stock conversion																											$ 76.03
Series A-1 Preferred Stock conversion price																												58.49
Series A-1 Preferred Stock coupon rate																												4.50%
Contingent forward sale contract mark-to-market expense	50,106,000	0	50,106,000	0						50,106,000	0	50,106,000	0
Contingent forward sale contract	$ 50,106,000		$ 50,106,000			$ 0
The Company's closing share price on last trading day in the third quarter 2012					$ 66.86