36 replies to this topic

[hfs3]

Just came from trying to visit the Ogilvie tracks website, and got the message the folder does not exist. That usually makes one wonder… Anyone have any information on what's up with Steve?

[Cheater]

Henry,

I noticed this several weeks ago. Also, the phone number for Ogilivie Tracks answers now as "not in service."

I have been trying to confirm the status of the company through my contacts without much success. What little info I've learned is vague and unsubstantiated so I'd rather not post what amounts to rumors of the actual situation.

What I can say is that it looks almost certainly like Ogilvie tracks is no longer in operation as a wood track builder.

If anyone has any substantive information on the Ogilvie situation, please post it.

[MSwiss]

He hadn't owned it for awhile.
 
IIRC, through probably a Canadian slot racer, he was tired of sucking MDF dust and got a real solid job with a Canadian power company.

[Cheater]

Yes, I think it is well-known that Brian Crosby assumed the company reins some time ago.

[dc-65x]

After my recent and somewhat bizarre contact with Ogilvie tracks, I'm sure glad I went with Gary Gerding. He's a straight up guy that builds great custom tracks.

[Steve Ogilvie]

A while back our website crashed and since it was pretty outdated we decided not to spend the money to put it back up. We still have a company email.

 

We do not build many tracks these days. Brian Crosby is getting ready to retire and all the tracks have been built by our partner, Don Bryans, in Florida for the last four years or so. I have not been involved for twelve years now, as I work full time at a power plant.

 

I do not know how much longer Don wants to build tracks; I have not talked to him in a long time.

[Wizard Of Iz]

Track building has to take an incredible toll on the body. Like so many aspects of our hobby... the "giants of industry" are getting older and there doesn't appear to be a next generation ready to step in.  
 
If/when Don does decide to put down the router it will be a loss. I can tell you that Don does quality work.
 
We had Don re-surface and re-braid our Ogilvie Hillclimb two years ago and he did an excellent job.

[Bill from NH]

Don Bryans built the local flat track, that's now in CA, about nine or ten years ago. It was a quality built track and I had the pleasure of working with him when he came north to install it. A few months later, he came up to rebraid the 185' Engleman.

I wouldn't hesitate to use Don if I had the need.

[Kyle Stokes]

I went through Ogilvie and I think Don was who built our track. I sent blueprints of what I wanted and it was built exactly to plan, down to the details. I asked for some unusual features and he did them all. I was very happy with his work.

[Steve Ogilvie]

Back in the early '90s we had a backlog of over a year's worth of orders. One of my early customers, Greg Walker of Daytona Beach, FL, offered to set up a shop and build tracks in partnership with me. I agreed to show Don everything I had developed and we then split the workload between us.

Don is an amazing craftsman and we have worked together ever since. Improvements that we developed were shared with each other.

Greg Walker ended his involvement in track building and turned the shop in Florida over to Don after about three years. I ended my direct involvement with the company about 2-1/2 years after my wife passed away in 1999. The business was slowing down and it no longer was making enough money to support two families. Without my wife's income I simply had to make more money. With three kids and college expenses coming up I really had no choice.

Brian and I have been partners since 1994 and I felt he made a seamless takeover. I had no doubt that he was just as good as me and he proved me right.

I really do not know how many tracks we built. We numbered all the ones that came out of the Kincardine shop and I think when Brian moved the shop to Walkerton the total was 480 or so. I do not know if Don kept track of his total or not but our total production is around 600+ tracks.

Thanks for all the kind comments. I will monitor this thread now and again and share any knowledge I have.

Steve

[wing G7]

Awesome tracks you guys built.

[PCH Parts Express]

It could be helpful if the most up to date contact if for Don Bryans was posted here on Slotblog.

[Cheater]

Scott,

Contact info for Don is indeed posted at Slotblog; you just have to look in the right place, the Track Builders list in Slotblog's Links section.

TRP

[PCH Parts Express]

Thank you. It has been said that Don will build and then crate up tracks to make them shippable by freight truck.  

[dc-65x]

I would recommend that anyone considering having a track custom built read through my thread on my personal experience with the process... particularly posts #39 and #45.

 

Home Track!

[Bill from NH]

Thank you. It has been said that Don will build and then crate up tracks to make them shippable by freight truck.  

 

Scott, that green flat track you got from Need for Speed, now in NV, was shipped from FL to NH by Don in two very well-constructed shipping containers. The individual track pieces were secured so none of them moved around in its container. We needed a forklift to remove the containers from the freight truck.

[mcrracer]

Great info, I was not aware of Don. Anyone else have any experience with Don and his tracks? PM me if you don't care to make your comments public.

[Danny Zona]

I've know Don "Grumpy " Bryans since my teenager days. He is very good friend with my track owner, Greg Walker.

His tracks are superb! Tracks I've run on he has resurfaced or braided are perfect.

[Steve Ogilvie]

If you buy a track from Don, you are buying a Steve Ogilvie track. He is not just some woodworker I picked out of the Yellow Pages.

I sent Don all my specs and how-to info way back in the early '90s and then spent two weeks with him building two tracks. After that we shared my customer base and his tracks were sold as Ogilvie tracks. We always strived for constant improvement and any innovation that either shop came up with was shared with the other shop.

I spoke with Don yesterday and he is still an active track builder and has an open calendar right now. He has drawings of every track design that we have built.

The contact info is under TRP in the track builder page on this website.

[Steve Ogilvie]

    I am now actively involved with Donn Bryans to help him sell tracks . I will be retiring from my job next January so I am going to have some time available to do the stuff that I like to do .Donn will continue to build the tracks , I will just be helping with sales and installation and design work .

    Feel free to contact me through this forum or Donn directly for info .RTR tracks are currently priced at 65 to 75 dollars US .King tracks are the most expensive .All our tacks are custom built to your specs .RTR tracks do not include power supplies or lap counting / time seller .Wired to be compatible with Trackmate equipment .

    I am also going to start producing our individual lane power controllers .This is an all in one tack power board with 16 relays , electronic power control and High/Low switch and control for each lane.Most of the tracks we built came with this setup .It will be available as an option on new tracks or I will build them for existing tracks .This may take a while because I have no idea of parts pricing at this time .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                And even though I have known Donn Bryans for over 25 years , I never knew he spelt his name with 2 n's until I got an email recently.

      Thanks for your time  Steve Ogilvie   

[Steve Ogilvie]

A while back our website crashed and since it was pretty outdated we decided not to spend the money to put it back up. We still have a company email.

 

We do not build many tracks these days. Brian Crosby is getting ready to retire and all the tracks have been built by our partner, Don Bryans, in Florida for the last four years or so. I have not been involved for twelve years now, as I work full time at a power plant.

 

I do not know how much longer Don wants to build tracks; I have not talked to him in a long time.

That was Brian's old email , it no longer works .Contact me through slotblog or call Donn Bryans direct .  Steve Ogilvie

[Danny Zona]

Great to hear.

[kvanpelt]

Do you have a ballpark price per foot for a 4 lane or 6 lane track?

[Steve Ogilvie]

I will ask Donn and put it up here .

[Steve Ogilvie]

                                                                                 

 

I don't have a lot of pics of our old tracks but what is really nice about this site is people are visiting raceways where my tracks have ended up and posting pics. I do not know how many tracks we built for Ernie Mossetti but at least five? Anyway, this is one of only two crossover tracks that I worked on. Maybe Brian and Donn built some more I do not know.

 

Ernie was the first owner of this one.