Clive McTaggart was born in Brisbane on the 16th of February, 1921. He went to school at Brisbane Boys College and later studied Town Planning at the Central Technical College. During World War II he joined the RAAF and trained as a pilot in Canada. After completing his training he was engaged in ferrying aircraft between America and Australia. He also flew combat missions over Indo China and later conducted air/sea rescue missions across the Pacific in Catalina Flying Boats.

Clive married Joyce Neil McDonald, who was working as a Wireless Operator with the WAAAF on the 9th of August 1945. After the war Clive worked as a Town Planner for the City of Brisbane before joining the construction firm of Thiess where he was engaged on design work for dams. Following this he joined Hardboards Australia as a Technical Representative specialising in acoustics.

Clive had been interested in model railways from an early age. Starting in 1947 he and several others displayed an S Gauge model railway at McWhirters Department Store in the Fortitude Valley over the Christmas period. The group continued this tradition for several years.

Clive also founded Austral Modelcraft, the first specialist model railway retail outlet in Australia. The shop traded from his home in Ekibin and sold a variety of brands from across the world including American Flyer, Lionel, Hornby, Triang, Lilliput, Marklin, Faller, Rivarossi and many others. In this role he was also responsible for introducing PECO from the United Kingdom and Tenshodo –a manufacture of brass scale model locomotives from Japan to the Australian Market.

Whilst Clive had little spare time to construct a model railway of his own, he made considerable effort to encourage others and promote model railways as a hobby. Clive was co-founder of the Brisbane Model Train Show – an event which exposed model railways to a wider audience and raised money for charity.

Clive collected Hornby O Gauge Trains and was an expert on their history. His collection reflects the output of Hornby over more than 40 years, including locomotives and rolling stock produced from the early 1920s right through to when production of the line ceased in the 1960s.The collection also includes items manufactured by Australian firms after World War II that reflect Australian trains.

Clive passed away on 29 May 1989. His business, Austral Modelcraft was sold to his friends Ray and Eileen Nunn who continued the business from a shopfront in Brisbane suburb Mount Gravatt East.