green with grey roofs and came to be known as "Grassgrubs". Small's successor as general manager, Trevor Hayward, insisted on this scheme, as railway historian David Leitch put to Hayward in a letter that traditional Midland red was associated with poor service. The first Grassgrub train ran on 5 December 1977 from Picton to Christchurch. The Napier-Gisborne Grassgrub service began on 20 March 1978, and proved popular. Between May and August average daily ridership was 61 per cent of capacity. The Grassgrubs were also used on the New Plymouth to Taumarunui, Wellington to Palmerston North via the Wairarapa and Christchurch to Greymouth services. The Grassgrubs were ill-fated. Their drawgear and bodies were not designed to be locomotive-hauled and they quickly wore out. By 1985 they had all been withdrawn from service due to metal fatigue. The Grassgrubs were replaced by 56-foot carriages on the remaining Wellington-Gisborne, Picton-Christchurch, Wairarapa and Christchurch-Greymouth services. Most of the passenger runs were continued after their demise, but the New Plymouth-Taumarunui service ended on 23 January 1983 (having already had its rolling stock replaced by 56-foot carriages.) The Wellington to Gisborne service eventually terminated at Napier following Cyclone Bola in March 1988. By July 1988, the Wellington-Wairarapa service was abbreviated to terminate in Masterton as patronage on the Masterton – Palmerston North section was often fewer than 20 passengers per trip, due to improved highways and bus services. Blue Streaks In 1968, at the suggestion of Hamilton City Council, an 88-seater was refurbished for a new fast service between Hamilton and Auckland aimed at business customers, and it started on Monday, 8 April 1968. It was fitted with carpet and re-upholstered fabric-covered seats, and was painted in a new two-tone blue colour scheme that prompted the nickname Blue Streak. The seating was reduced to 84 to accommodate a servery area from which light meals and assorted alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks could be purchased. This was notable as the first time that a regularly scheduled passenger train service in New Zealand had reinstated onboard catering since dining cars had been withdrawn across the network as an economy measure during World War I. This initial service was unsuccessful, with patronage well below the levels needed to be profitable. The service might have been successful if run the other way round from Hamilton to Auckland in the morning but in 1968 the Wellington-Auckland Limited and Express were still timetabled