They were primarily used for express passenger trains between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield Victoria. In 1957, the class was renumbered with the addition of an "E" prefix to the number. In the early 1960s, the class started to receive the standard BR green livery. At least one of the class, E27002, received the electric blue livery carried by the AC electric locomotives.
The class was withdrawn en masse in September 1968. They were stored at Bury by BR in the hope of sale to a foreign railway. The passenger service for which the Class 77s were built continued to be operated by Class 76s, until its withdrawal on 5 January 1970. The Woodhead Line was closed as a through route in 1981, leaving just stubs between Manchester Piccadilly and Hadfield in the West and Sheffield Victoria and Deepcar in the East. They were renumbered in the 1500 series in the order they left their workshops, where they received various modifications, including new headlight clusters.
The locomotives also retained their names. E27005 Minerva was broken up and used for spares. The remaining six locomotives were employed until final withdrawal in 1985. Their main work was on The HagueCologne express trains as far as the border at Venlo although they travelled to their home depot at Maastricht either with a train or light engine on Sunday for their weekly examination before returning to traffic the following day. The item "Heljan 7702, 00 Gauge, BR Class 77 EM2 Locomotive, 27004'Juno' BR Blue" is in sale since Thursday, January 16, 2020. This item is in the category "Collectables\Model Railways & Trains\OO Gauge\Locomotives".days-junc" and is located in Manchester. This item can be shipped worldwide.