What is MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING?

MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING is a meme where a train drifts across two rail tracks at once, originally from the Densha de D doujinshi and later fused with the Trolley Problem to mean picking both bad options[3].

Where did MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING come from?

It came from Densha de D, a fan comic parodying Initial D that replaces cars with trains, and first hit the web as a YTMND page by xdata666 on September 28, 2004[2].

How do you use MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING?

People typically caption a Trolley Problem diagram or a photo of a stuck train with 'MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING!!!' to signal picking both tracks instead of choosing[1].

Is MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING still popular?

The meme's biggest surge came in February 2017 when it merged with the Trolley Problem on Reddit's r/DankMemes, as documented by the Daily Dot[1].

MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING

Q: What does MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING mean?

Urban Dictionary defines it as choosing to do both bad options at once, a subversion of Morton's Fork borrowed from the Trolley Problem framing[4].

2004catchphraseclassic

Published September 7, 2026

MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING started as a 2004 YTMND page riffing on Densha de D, a fan comic that swapped Initial D's street racing cars for trains. The gag stayed niche for over a decade until 2017, when Reddit users mashed it up with the Trolley Problem, turning 'why choose one track when you can drift onto both' into the ethical dilemma's third option.

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Overview

The core joke is a train pulling off an impossible move: swinging its rear bogey onto an adjacent track mid-turn so it appears to be sliding across both rails at once, mimicking the drifting technique from Initial D3. In practice the meme lives as the shouted caption 'MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING!!!' (usually all caps, extra exclamation points) slapped over Trolley Problem diagrams, photos of stuck trains, or edits of anime train scenes1.

Urban Dictionary later defined the term as choosing to do both bad options at once, a subversion of Morton's Fork4. The setup tends to be a two-track dilemma where the operator picks both, killing everyone on tracks A and B or grabbing every prize at once depending on the scenario1. A photo of a real train stuck straddling two rails, which appears to trace back to Hungarian news site langovaglot.hu, gave the format a photographic anchor beyond the original doujinshi art1.

Origin & Background

Platform

Densha de D doujinshi / YTMND (first online post), 4chan and Reddit (viral spread)

Creator

xdata666

Date

2004

Multi-track drifting originated in Densha de D, a Japanese fan comic parodying Shuichi Shigeno's Initial D by swapping the street racing cars for trains3. In the comic the protagonist hits a double-tracked curve so that his train's rear wheel bogey jumps the rails and lands on the adjacent track, letting the train appear to drift like a car. The earliest known online instance was a YTMND page titled 'MULTI TRACK DRIFTING !!!' uploaded on September 28, 2004 by user xdata6662.

How It Spread

Five more multi-track drifting YTMNDs followed in 2005, keeping the joke alive in a niche corner of the early web3. The reference then migrated to 4chan after an English fan translation of Densha de D circulated online, with one early archived instance sitting in /b/ thread 16972676 titled 'Lawls For Kids', posted December 8, 20065.

The format sat mostly dormant for years until Trolley Problem memes took off on 4chan around 2013 and boomeranged onto Reddit1. Users noticed 'multi-track drifting' worked as a natural third option to the ethical thought experiment, letting the operator hit victims on both tracks or collect every good outcome at once. On February 13, 2017 the Daily Dot documented a fresh surge on r/DankMemes, sparked by a repost of the 'Hedonist's Trolley Problem' paired with the photo of a real train stuck between two rails1.

How to Use This Meme

The template typically pairs a Trolley Problem style diagram, or a photo of a train stuck between rails, with the caption 'MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING!!!' in bold caps1. Common convention is to present a binary moral or preference dilemma, then have a character choose both tracks, either as maximum destruction or maximum reward4.

Frequently Asked Questions

References (5)