Caption: When the Great Western Railway built it's line, branching it off at London to Sarnia, they decided to tap into the oil boom that was happening in Lambton County. The main town, Petrolia, already had a railway when the Michigan Central also built a spur line to take advantage of the oil that was found so richly in this area.

Today, not much remains of the oil boom days. Smaller towns such as Oil City and Oil Springs, are only a shell of what they used to be. The Michigan Central pulled it's branchline through Lambton County in the early 60's. Most stations today have vanished from the landscape, but all is not lost. The last station standing in Petrolia, is in fact now used as their Public Library. CN ended passenger service on the line in 1930, and it's been a library ever since. Freight traffic continued on the spur line, until it too was finally lifted in the late 80's / early 90's. But the CN station is a gem. It has been well taken care of through the years.

Of note - the MC station for Petrolia was relocated and split into two to be used as a residence in Bright's Grove. The freight shed that was located in Petrolia - well, rumour has it it is used as part of the main building known as the "Oil Rig Restaurant"...just across the street from where it once stood. The former MC station for Oil Springs still exists, now part of the Oil Museum located there.