About

Multi-Track Drifting is a meme that originated from Densha de D, a parody doujinshi (fan comic) of Japanese street racing series Initial D that replaces automobiles with trains.

Origin

A signature of the Initial D series (if not street racing itself) is drifting: an action where the rear of the car swings outward in a turn resulting in a high-speed, controlled skid. Multi-Track Drifting was accomplished in Densha de D by having the protagonist head into a double-tracked curve with his train in such a way that the rear wheel bogey jumps the tracks and replaces itself on the adjacent track, making the train appear to be drifting like a car would.

Spread

On YTMND

The first instance of multi-track drifting on YTMND occurred on September 28th, 2004 when xdata666 created “MULTI TRACK DRIFTING !!!”^[2] Five additional multi-track drifting YMTNDs were made in 2005.

On 4chan

Multi-Track Drifting gained more notability through 4chan after a fan translation of Densha de D was released online.

One of the earliest archived instances of Multi-Track Drifting referenced on 4chan^[1] is in thread 16972676 entitled Lawls for Kids (NSFW) posted December 8th, 2006. Given the context, it would seem that the meme had been established on 4chan earlier. Considering that there was niche interest on YTMND the same year that 4chan was established, it is possible that references to Multi-Track Drifting have been on 4chan from the start.

Trolley Problem Mashups

The emergence of The Trolley Problem memes lent itself well to MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING!! mashups, as “multi-track drifting” seemingly gives a way to killing both groups represented on tracks A&B in a typical Trolley Problem meme (ex: shown below).

On February 13th, 2017, The Daily Dot^[3] reported on a Reddit surge in MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING!!! memes crossed with The Trolley Problem, following the discovery of a photograph of a train stuck on two tracks (examples shown below).

Search Interest

External References