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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription, which takes about a 15% cut:

 

4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652

 

You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


Virtual Railfan – 55 Trains in 5 Minutes!

An evening pause: As Steve Goodman sang:

And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their fathers’ magic carpets made of steel
And mothers with their babes asleep
Are rockin’ to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

Hat tip Alton Blevins.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

7 comments

  • Alex Andrite

    DAH DAH DIT DAH ………..

    Great collection.
    I once knew a camera repair professional, back in the day of single lens reflex cameras.
    His hobby was using portable top end stero recording units, and recording train sounds.
    He would travel the nation to specific, and well know places, and record train sounds, up close and personal, CLOSE.
    All the while narrating where, when, and which engine, and cautioning listeners to the sounds, deep bass, extreme squeels, etc.
    One of his many favorite recording locations were switching yards. Rumbles, clanks, squeels, slams and grinds, were amazing.
    He enjoyed recording the switching yard here in San Jose, CA for the diversity of engine and yard sounds.

    His major customer base was Japanese train hobbiests. That, coupled with his photo skills, made for an amazing and profitable business.

  • John C

    Love that Arlo Guthrie song.

  • Concerned

    Trains built this country and continue to keep it running. Still the most energy efficient means of heavy transportation.

  • MDN

    I wish the clip of the steam locomotive at just after 2:00 minutes was a bit longer. That thing was a monster!

  • John S.

    Years ago hopped the freights from West Covina, CA to Balto, MD. Nine days, plenty hobo jungles, rail side missions, two apprehensions by RR cops (“Bulls”). Tucson, Tucumcari, El Paso, Dalhart, Topeka, St L, Ind, Parkersburg WV, Brunswick MD, DC, Balto, Phil, and back again to Balto. Parents (great ones) never knew.. Hobo’s in general good crowd sharing Mission handouts. Sometimes yard workers would tell next train movement. Hopped a little later. Doubt it could be done today by normal young’ns.

  • wayne

    John S.
    Great back-story!

    circling back…..

    Hobo Nickel: Vintage & Modern
    https://youtu.be/XYc_Swf4ekw
    6:54

  • Jeff Wright

    My Dad worked for the L&N (Seaboard System, Family Lines, Chessie the sleeping Cat—now CSX)
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_(mascot)

    He bought me a Lionel toy train set. I had a friend who was a bigger train fan than even I was. He had epilepsy and was going through a hard time.

    It hurt, but I gave it to him as an adult.

    There are times I wish I hadn’t…but seeing his eyes light up with that and a CSX windbreaker was worth it.

    To me…it will always be the L&N..

    The UTU made sure that my Dad was cared for.

    On an unrelated note, here is a video on sacred numbers not found in soulless metrics:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W8F-Ma2XHSQ&feature=emb_imp_woyt

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