Strong performers, these locomotives were among some of the largest to be employed by British Rail. The first five withdrawals were all due to accident damage with the first planned decommissioning taking place in February 1986. As withdrawals began, ostensibly due to a lack of parts the withdrawn engines in turn solved this issue, and therefore the Class 47 disappeared slowly once withdrawals began.
In 2023, 30 of the class remained operational on the national network with West Coast Railways being the largest operator, 17 were stored, 33 were converted to the Class 57 and an additional 32 were preserved.
No. 47522 ‘Doncaster Enterprise’ was one of the locomotives constructed at Crewe and entered traffic on 9 November 1966 with the running number of D1105. After 8 years in service, the locomotive saw a renumbering change to No. 47522 in March 1974. On 3 October 1987, 47522 was unveiled in a unique LNER like apple green livery and was named ‘Doncaster Enterprise’ at Doncaster Works by Councillor Gladys Ambler, Mayor of Doncaster. After this, the locomotive attained a ‘celebrity’ status.
In January 1990, the locomotive was seriously damaged after a crash occurred near Dover. While at Doncaster Works for repairs, it appears that by 20 May 1990, there was a missing dot above the i on the ‘Doncaster Enterprise’ name plate. The stuck-on dot had most likely fallen off the name plate. The No. 2 cab was replaced with the cab from No. 47645. Once repairs were complete, the locomotive was outshopped in a BR Parcels red and grey livery. In July 2000, ‘Doncaster Enterprise’ was cut up by EWS at Wigan CRDC.