Slicers (applies to each fact value in each table cell)

Reporting Entity [Axis]

0000821026 (http://www.sec.gov/CIK)

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]	Period [Axis]
	2016-01-01 - 2016-12-31
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Components of income tax provision	Income tax provision (benefit) applicable to continuing operations consists of the following:   Year ended December 31, (in thousands) 2016   2015   2014 Current:              Federal $ (702 )   $ (3,237 )   $ 32,600    State and local 199   (762 )   5,677    Foreign 1,385   1,224   1,409   $ 882   $ (2,775 )   $ 39,686             Deferred:              Federal $ 3,523   $ 1,756   $ 19,741    State and local 1,696   519   1,830    Foreign 810   258   244   $ 6,029   $ 2,533   $ 21,815             Total:              Federal $ 2,821   $ (1,481 )   $ 52,341    State and local 1,895   (243 )   7,507    Foreign 2,195   1,482   1,653   $ 6,911   $ (242 )   $ 61,501
Components of income before income taxes	Income (loss) before income taxes from continuing operations consists of the following:   Year ended December 31, (in thousands) 2016   2015   2014    U.S. $ 11,526   $ (18,867 )   $ 174,262    Foreign 9,855   7,303   9,884   $ 21,381   $ (11,564 )   $ 184,146
Effective tax rate reconciliation	A reconciliation from the statutory U.S. federal tax rate to the effective tax rate follows:   Year ended December 31,   2016   2015   2014 Statutory U.S. federal tax rate 35.0  %   35.0  %   35.0  % Increase (decrease) in rate resulting from:             Effect of noncontrolling interest (4.7 )   5.3   (2.5 )   State and local income taxes, net of related federal taxes 5.8   1.4   2.7   Income taxes on foreign earnings (1.3 )   9.4   (0.4 )   Change in pre-acquisition tax liability and other costs —   3.5   —   Tax associated with accrued and unpaid dividends 3.2   (13.6 )   —   Goodwill impairment —   (35.6 )   —   Nondeductible compensation 2.0   (5.0 )   0.2   Federal income tax credits (7.3 )   —   —   Other, net (0.4 )   1.7   (1.6 ) Effective tax rate 32.3  %   2.1  %   33.4  %
Deferred tax liabilities and assets	Significant components of the Company's deferred tax liabilities and assets are as follows:   December 31, (in thousands) 2016   2015 Deferred tax liabilities:         Property, plant and equipment and Rail Group assets leased to others $ (179,250 )   $ (170,588 )   Equity method investments (45,244 )   (45,673 )   Other (22,286 )   (22,261 )   (246,780 )   (238,522 ) Deferred tax assets:         Employee benefits 25,403   27,160   Accounts and notes receivable 2,964   2,611   Inventory 9,979   11,918   Federal income tax credits 7,150   —   Net operating loss carryforwards 3,322   4,542   Other 16,224   13,583   Total deferred tax assets 65,042   59,814 Valuation allowance (310 )   (593 )   64,732   59,221 Net deferred tax liabilities $ (182,048 )   $ (179,301 )
Unrecognized tax benefits excluding interest and penalties	A reconciliation of the January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016 amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows: (in thousands)   Balance at January 1, 2014 $ 1,110 Additions based on tax positions related to the current year 125 Additions based on tax positions related to prior years 384 Reductions as a result of a lapse in statute of limitations (132 ) Balance at December 31, 2014 1,487     Additions based on tax positions related to the current year 55 Additions based on tax positions related to prior years 691 Reductions based on tax positions related to prior years (518 ) Reductions as a result of a lapse in statute of limitations (284 ) Balance at December 31, 2015 1,431     Additions based on tax positions related to the current year 113 Additions based on tax positions related to prior years — Reductions based on tax positions related to prior years (40 ) Reductions as a result of a lapse in statute of limitations (52 ) Balance at December 31, 2016 $ 1,452