ROD OHIRA'S PEOPLE
Couple share diverse hobbies
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
He is a garden railway hobbyist from Manchester, England. She's a Portland, Ore., native who collects exotic masks.
"What's wonderful is we both participate in each other's hobbies," said Marlene Lomas, a Northwest Airlines customer service agent who has lived in Hawai'i for 21 years. "He helps me pick out masks and I'm his weeder and photographer."
The couple, who married in 1988, moved 4 1/2 years ago from an 'Aiea townhouse into a two-story house with enough yard and wall space to accommodate their individual interests.
The steep front yard, once overgrown with shrubs, is now the garden home of "Manoa Valley Railway."
David Lomas' miniature railway is a work in progress. He has skillfully laid tracks on rock walls, built narrow concrete supports — some 3 feet high — to connect spaces and put in new grass and plants that enhance the natural beauty of the rock garden.
A gazebo, which Lomas built, allows the couple to view the railway in privacy.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
A water pool, tunnel and handcrafted accessories — including a slate-roof engine shed, station house and water tower — give the railway the realistic look of a train traveling through the countryside.
Train hobbyist David Lomas and wife Marlene, who collects exotic masks, share in each other's interests.
Lomas plans to expand the system to a higher rock wall beneath his lanai and is working on a model of the old brewery building in Kaka'ako as an addition to the landscape.
"He likes to build things," Marlene Lomas said.
Her husband, a senior project engineer for Tesoro Hawaii Corp. and former British Merchant Navy engineer, came to Hawai'i from Hong Kong 13 years ago.
He holds up his newest railway addition, a wooden caboose equipped with a small video camera.
"Now we can sit upstairs and watch (the train) on TV if we want to," said David Lomas, who fires up the engine and runs his train once a month for about 15 minutes.
The train and buildings have lighting so they can also be viewed at night. Lomas' train collection features three steel engines powered by steam. In each, the water is heated by butane.
His favorite engine is a replica of a 1909 model used by the Welsh Highland Railway. As a youngster, Lomas often rode the train.
"You know, I've never ridden a train in the U.S.," said Lomas, who restored O'ahu Railway & Land Co.'s Parlor Car No. 64 known as "The Dillingham Coach" a few years ago.
Marlene Lomas, meanwhile, has collected nearly three dozen masks.
She bought her first mask 22 years ago in Papua, New Guinea. Hanging on a living room wall are masks from Nepal, Indonesia, Chile, Peru, Japan, Alaska, Sri Lanka and England.
"I don't have stories for all of them," she said. "What I look for is something unusual that stands out in a crowd and is good quality."
Most of her masks are made from wood.
A rosewood mask from Kenya is among her favorites. "It's a Masai warrior mask used when dancing to welcome victory in tribal conflicts," she said.
Other favorites include a horsehair Hopi Indian clown mask which she purchased in Sedona, Ariz., and a "17 disease mask" from Sri Lanka.
"I like them," David Lomas said of his wife's collection. "When she's out of town, we have parties and everyone wears one."
The railway and mask collection are not available for public viewing.
Her hobby is equally enjoyable but not as demanding as his hobby, Marlene Lomas said.
"I love that he can have a good time with it because it keeps him out of trouble," she said.
