Partially-Owned Leasing Subsidiaries - Partially-Owned Leasing Subsidiaries	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) board_member subsidiary
Partially-owned subsidiaries
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Trinity guarantees of subsidiary-related activities | $	$ 0
Partially-owned subsidiaries | Railcar Leasing and Management Services Group
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Number of subsidiaries | subsidiary	2
Number of board members | board_member	7
Number of TILC designated board members | board_member	2
Partially-owned subsidiaries | Railcar Leasing and Management Services Group
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Carrying value of investment in partially-owned subsidiaries | $	$ 195,000,000
Weighted average ownership interest	38.00%
Weighted average interest owned by institutional investors	62.00%