The Norfolk and Western Railroad first came to Ashe County in 1914, and as the line was established, numerous small communities emerged along the rails. A lone depot placed between Paddy Mountain and Mount Jefferson soon blossomed into the town of West Jefferson. After 1933, West Jefferson became the last stop on the line, and as many as four times every day the slow-moving Virginia Creeper rumbled into town, connecting West Jefferson and other Ashe County towns with thousands of miles of interconnected rail lines across America. By the late 20th century, the rise of paved highways made high-speed interstate travel common and rendered rural rail lines like the Virginia Creeper obsolete, and it departed West Jefferson for the last time in 1977. For thousands of hours, cabooses like this one traveled the Norfolk and Western lines during a time when rail travel was an everyday reality for Ashe County residents, and that rail system gave birth to West Jefferson, brought Ashe County into closer contact with the rest of the nation, and forever changed the Southern Appalachian region.