Notes Payable to Banks and Other Debt Obligations (Details) (USD $)			9 Months Ended															9 Months Ended											1 Months Ended				1 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 Base rate	Sep. 30, 2012 BoS Facility A	Dec. 31, 2011 BoS Facility A	Sep. 30, 2012 Euro-denominated debt	Dec. 31, 2011 Euro-denominated debt	Sep. 30, 2012 BOS (USA) reducing note facility	Dec. 31, 2011 BOS (USA) reducing note facility	Sep. 30, 2012 Bank of America loan facility	Dec. 31, 2011 Bank of America loan facility	Sep. 30, 2012 WFCF Credit Facility	Dec. 31, 2011 WFCF Credit Facility	Sep. 30, 2012 WFCF Credit Facility On or before January 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012 WFCF Credit Facility Between January 31, 2013 and January 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2012 WFCF Credit Facility Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 WFCF Credit Facility Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 LIBOR rate loans LIBOR	Sep. 30, 2012 Base rate loans LIBOR	Sep. 30, 2012 Base rate loans Base rate	Sep. 30, 2012 Base rate loans Prime rate	Sep. 30, 2012 U.S. portfolio entities	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. portfolio entities	Sep. 30, 2012 Consolidated railroad subsidiaries	Dec. 31, 2011 Consolidated railroad subsidiaries	Dec. 31, 2011 Real estate investment entity	Sep. 30, 2012 Other notes and debt obligations	Dec. 31, 2011 Other notes and debt obligations	May 31, 2012 FNBCT Loan Facility	Sep. 30, 2012 FNBCT Loan Facility	May 21, 2012 FNBCT Loan Facility	May 21, 2012 FNBCT Loan Facility FNBCT	May 31, 2012 FNBCT Loan Facility Maximum	May 31, 2012 FNBCT Loan Facility Minimum
Notes payable to banks
Debt obligations, net of unamortized discount	$ 117,839,000	$ 189,936,000		$ 58,560,000	$ 86,579,000	$ 9,900,000	$ 13,200,000			$ 25,198,000	$ 49,228,000	$ 16,843,000	$ 21,405,000														$ 1,831,000	$ 2,094,000		$ 2,000,000
Unconditional limited guaranty obligation to WFCF for all of ABL's obligations												5,000,000	5,000,000
Non-recourse bank note payable																						6,269,000	18,113,000	7,138,000	5,156,000	7,361,000
Estimated fair value of debt					91,600,000				0
Unamortized discount				1,600,000	3,100,000
Maximum credit line												25,000,000	25,000,000																	15,000,000	15,000,000
Maximum funding commitment																																7,500,000
Threshold outstanding balance as a percentage of the net present value of the equity interests and loans and other assets pledged																																	25.00%
Variable rate basis			base rate															LIBOR	LIBOR	base rate	prime rate								prime rate of commercial banks
Stated interest rate (as a percent)																															4.00%
Administration fee																													25,000
Facility fee																													93,750
Non-utilization fee (as a percent)																													0.50%
Interest coverage ratio required to be maintained																																		2
Tangible net worth required to be maintained																																		75,000,000
Term note maximum capacity								$ 25,000,000				$ 25,000,000
SBA guaranteed loans, considered for borrowing base (as a percent)																100.00%
SBA non-guaranteed loans, considered for borrowing base (as a percent)																80.00%	60.00%
Previously-purchased performing loans, considered for borrowing base (as a percent)																80.00%
Alternate annual rate base			base rate															LIBOR	LIBOR	base rate	prime rate								prime rate of commercial banks
Interest rate added to alternate annual base rates (as a percent)			0.75%															3.50%		0.75%
Prepayment fee as a percentage of maximum credit line														3.00%	2.00%