Christchurch at 9:40 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and replace local trains between Auckland and Hamilton, Wellington and Palmerston North, Christchurch and Ashburton. These services did not eventuate following the decision to cancel the second batch of railcars in 1956. Replacement engines NZR requested the calling of tenders for new engines and crankshafts for all 35 railcars plus spares for £1.05 million New Zealand pounds in July 1966. In January 1967 the Cabinet approved only replacement crankshafts to continue the railcars for five years on the Wairarapa, Wellington-Napier-Gisborne and Auckland-New Plymouth routes and to conduct trials of fast upgraded railcar service between Auckland and Hamilton (later known as the "Blue Streak" service) and Wellington and Palmerston North. At the time it was intended to scrap all railcar services in the South Island, except for Vulcans on the Picton (Vulcan railcars and summer passenger trains replaced the 88-seaters on this route from 1967 to 1968) and West Coast services. Service cancellations From 31 July 1967 all railcar services between Auckland and Northland were cancelled, along with services from Auckland and Hamilton to Tauranga and Te Puke. The railcar service to New Plymouth was kept but was cut back to operate between New Plymouth and Taumarunui in 1971, with passengers making connections to North Island Main Trunk trains. This service lasted until 11 February 1978 when it was replaced by a carriage train. The final run of an 88-seater railcar was in 1978 from Greymouth to Christchurch. The last trip came to an ignominious end when an engine failure and fire meant that passengers had to be taken onwards from Otira by bus. Almost all cancelled trains were replaced by New Zealand Railways Road Services buses. Withdrawals In 1976 it was announced that no more railcars would receive major overhaul works, and they would be withdrawn from service as they wore out. Although the remaining services were to areas not well served by road, the mechanical condition of the railcars meant that by the mid-1970s replacement was becoming urgent. By 1978, the only remaining railcars in NZR service were the Silver Ferns. Grassgrubs In March 1976, NZR general manager Tom Small instructed his chief mechanical engineer to prepare plans to convert 14 railcars to unpowered carriages. NZR removed the railcars engines and drivers' cabs, and converted them to unpowered carriages, classified as "AC". These carriages were refurbished painted a unique grass