[3] Although rumors soon flew of their return,[4] Santa Fe later cited competition by bus services as preventing restoration of the Saint and Angel schedules.

[5] In 1936 the completion of improvements on the Ridge Route highway south of Bakersfield and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge gave the Santa Fe an opportunity to compete with the SP with faster service.

After a series of hearings and legal challenges, as well as public displays of the new rolling stock,[7] the new six-car consists entered service on July 1, 1938.

In early 1939, the Golden Gate was involved in what was believed to be the first collision between a modern streamlined train and an automobile when it was struck by a car in Richmond.

[10] In 1939 another train, the Valley Flyer, was added to the Bakersfield-Oakland route[11] to carry passengers to the Golden Gate International Exposition.

Since 1974[update] Amtrak California's San Joaquin runs the same route from Port Chicago to Bakersfield.