David Jarka, Managing Editor

            Post-game coaches’ meltdowns, retarded Batman and loose cannons wrestling giant pencils are just some of many gems you can find on YouTube.

            However, the highly popular video sharing Web site also has its share of duds.

            One night, I was sitting idly on my computer and decided to search my hometown, Lancaster, N.Y., just to see what would come up. Beside videos from the local speedway and the annual Fourth of July parade, I was a bit disturbed to see a collection of some of the most brainless videos of my life.

            They are of trains. Not of train crashes, near misses, any kind of train bloopers or anything that would be even mildly interesting. These clips are just of trains going down tracks at crossings in my town. Nothing else.

            I could understand if a railroad company such as CSX, Amtrack or Union Pacific had uploaded the videos for some kind of informational reason or something to promote rail safety, but they’re not.

            Train enthusiasts post these clips on YouTube so other railroad enthusiasts can comment on how cool the horn sounds or that they think the engine pulling the cars is amazing.

            I couldn’t make this stuff up.

            The pathetic nature of these videos had me enthralled for a good half hour of my life that I will never get back. It just amazed me that people would not only be so enamored with capturing such a dull moment on video, but that these clips are getting view counts in the thousands and five star ratings.

            The only real riveting thing was an argument unraveling in the comments of one of the videos about whether it was safe to ride dirt bikes on a trail near one of the lines. One user threatened to call the train police for trespassing, prompting another user to call him an “a** f***.”

            So who are these people? Who are railmogul2, Cchrisbud813 and these other users? Are these the kind of people who spend all day in their basements playing with model trains, shouting “choo-choo” and wearing conductor hats?

            Maybe I am just overreacting about the fact that there are people in this world who are this mundane.

            I guess they could be out doing worse things, like breaking into cars to steal GPS units to track where they are at each railroad crossing or spray painting “Burlington Northern Santa Fe Sucks” on my town’s railroad signals.

            Although I could name an endless amount of activities someone could do besides filming trains, these railroad dorks aren’t doing anything to truly harm our society. Just like the geeks that spend all day playing Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft, these aficionados are just doing what they love to do.

            So after discovering these videos, maybe it was poetic justice when I left the house later that night and had to wait 10 minutes for a train to go by.

E-mail: david.jarka@ubspectrum.com