Dennis 99 gets a face lift! A first in preservation of wearing the radiator grill that it spent so much of its life with. Matt

Just a couple of finishing touches before the big day tomorrow. Daimler 94 has its identity back! Fleet numbers reinstated today on the the replacement bonnet. Matt

4th April 2026 – Lots of jobs going on today to prepare the buses ready for Monday. Andy did a fantastic job washing the last few buses, with the help of Robert. I was attending to some of the 101 small jobs, which always take plenty of time to complete! One job that I have been meaning to attend to is the rear head rests on Bus 80. Whilst the bus was with its last operator, Thomas Bros in Mid Wales, several of the seats had been repaired with materials that the company had spare. It is a variety of…

1st April 2026 – Today was No. 35’s turn for some attention — a fresh lick of paint under the stairs. Work on this area actually started back in October. There was some peeling paint and light surface corrosion to deal with, so it was all sanded back and treated with Jenolite. A coat of primer went on and was flatted back before Christmas; but the job paused as the colder, darker weather really set in. With BusFest just days away — and with the bus outside in better light — we’ve now been able to get the first coat…

30th March 2026 – with the engine bonnet now all prepped, it’s time to be on with the paint. Andy has given it a coat of undercoat before applying a coat of the Victorian Maroon. A good drying period will take place before it’s fitted to the bus at the weekend ready for Monday. Eleventh hour or what?!! Matt

22nd March 2026 – Not much to post of late of the restoration of the buses due to preparation of the vehicles for the running day on Easter Monday 6th April. One outstanding job from the last running day was the engine bonnet of Bus 94. This suffered from the issue of seized hinges rendering collapse of the surrounding fibreglass. Ex bus 97’s bonnet was secured and hinges rebuilt (as posted in a previous post) with just the fibreglass and paintwork to prepare. Work is well underway for the painting back into its Chester Victoria Maroon and fitting to the…

Sometimes progress is invisible, sometimes it isn’t…Today was exactly one of those days! Matt busied himself sorting out (and modifying) the nearside balancing valve on Olympian No. 4. This valve is part of the air suspension system and keeps the bus level. Something not usually visible, but absolutely vital. Meanwhile, I set to removing the remains of an old advert and lettering from the bonnet of No. 97 – ready for Matt to sand down on Sunday. This will then be painted for fitting to No. 94 and ready for BusFest 2! Visible, but much less vital!

Another piece of Chester’s transport history has been secured for the future! Matt and I are excited to announce that we now officially ‘own’ Chester City Transport Ltd. The company name became available in July 2025 when the last iteration of the “Corpy” finally became defunct. We felt that if the name was going to be preserved, it should remain in the hands of people who care deeply about the city’s bus heritage — particularly Matt, who personally owns a sizeable fleet of former Chester City Transport vehicles. Registering the company ensures that the historic Chester City Transport name is…