Victoria Vancouver Island British Columbia - With four notes from the locomotive's whistle, the first four notes of O Canada, the Confederation Train made its national debut in Victoria on Monday, 9 Jan 1967.
 
More than 1,500 people gathered in the rail yards on the west side of the Point Ellice Bridge to watch secretary of state Judy LaMarsh press the button to start the special whistle that would mark the centennial of Canadian confederation.
 
Then, three Royal Canadian Air Force jets roared past, and 1,000 coloured balloons were released, to the delight of the crowd.
 
An estimated 40,000 people toured the train during its week in Victoria, before it went to Nanaimo.
 
The six-coach train, a travelling showcase of the past and the future, was just a small part of our celebrations in 1967.
 
There was also a Confederation Caravan, which was taken by transport trucks to communities that would be missed by the train.
 
We had special coins, special stamps, commemorative medallions for school students, Centennial projects from sea to sea to sea, and Expo 67 in Montreal.
 
Tomorrow marks the start of Canada's sesquicentennial year.
 
It doesn't have quite the excitement of 1967, sad to say.
 
The 50th anniversary of our 100th anniversary celebration is looking to be a rather ho-hum affair.
 
The 100th anniversary celebration started about eight months before 1967 started, because we had two major centennials.
 
The year before confederation, in 1866, the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island came together.
 
The local festivities were managed by the Greater Victoria Centennial Society, led by people such as Cecil Clifford Wyatt, the retired Victoria city manager, and entertainer Jerry Gosley.
 
The society spent more than $1 million on events, with most of it coming from the federal and provincial governments, as well as from local municipalities on a per-capita basis.
 
There was a sense of optimism and a can-do spirit.
 
There was much more enthusiasm about our birthday than there is this time around.
 
Let's not let that stop us.
 
The New Year's Eve party starts at 17:00 today at the Inner Harbour.
 
Let's party like it's 1967.
 
Dave Obee.

OKthePK Joint Bar Editor:  Article abridged - non-railway data removed.