| Clive Groome began his career on the footplate at Norwood in 1951. He transferred to Nine Elms in 1954, became a 'top link' fireman and was appointed driver in 1961. Before the closure of Nine Elms and the end of steam on the Southern, he drove to Bournemouth and Salisbury as a member of number 3 link. In 1966 he drove the A2 pacific "Blue Peter" on the Locomotive Club of Great Britain's special to Salisbury and Exeter. |
| Throughout his career he had made it his policy to gain wide experience of current steam locomotive work. As a result he can look back with pleasure on trips he has made on the footplates of a variety of locomotive classes on every region of British Rail. Clive has also worked on railways in other countries. In India he fired the 'WP' pacifics between Madras and Bangalore on the broad gauge, and a 'YD' 2-8-2 on the metre gauge (an 8 month tour). Between 1967 and 1979 he was trained on a variety of diesel and electric machines, but was unable to maintain his interest in a job transformed by modernisation and deskilling. As a result he resigned in 1979. In 1983 he began his lecture series entitled 'Footplate Days and Footplate Ways'. The demand for an increasing technical and practical input into those lectures inevitably led him to establish the courses he runs today. Clive has a BA Hons in Sociology. |