is how he knows, and can entertainingly recount, big chunks of obscure information.
Tonight at dinner the conversation mainly concerned iceboxes, ice houses, and so on. David told us how iceboxes worked, how the ice was delivered, what sort of ice houses it was stored in, where it came from in the first place, how people sawed it out of the lakes, how it was transported to other regions, and the rough time frame during which Americans used iceboxes. It was really great.
Usually when I ask him, "Where did you learn that?" he answers, "From railroad books." His obsession with trains, trolleys and transportation has led him to an education that includes not only (obviously) transit systems and vehicles but also economics, politics, geography, natural resources, various industries that used trains (like logging), urban design, engineering and architecture (of bridges, stations, and so on), and probably a bunch of other stuff I can't think of off the top of my head. So while on paper I'm the one with the more elite education, he sure knows a heck of a lot from voracious reading.
In this case, however, he said he thought he read the ice stuff in books about New Hampshire that were at his grandparents' camp (summer house). We were wondering if THEY ever read the books!