Road vehicle; Leyland LB5 bus, Chocolate Express fleet No. B6, registration number XU7498, 1924

This is a 1924 private bus. The Chocolate Express, represents an epic era in London’s transport story when an explosion of independent pirate operators challenged the monopoly of the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) in the roaring twenties. It was operated in the 1920s and early 1930s and shows a time where not all London buses had to be painted red. The bus earnt the reputation of running a reliable service and spotless appearance inside and out. When London Transport was founded in 1933 many smaller companies were brought together and by 1934 legislation made pirate buses no longer possible.
In 1984, the Chocolate Express bus was discovered, derelict on a farm near Norwich by the highly regarded Leyland bus restorer Mike Sutcliffe MBE. Mike spent three painstaking years researching and rebuilding the bus to its former glory and went on to win several awards before it came to the musuem.