Civil war era desk

[sandhills]

My mother in law is one of the care takers of our local museum and asked me about something they found in an old boxcar they've had for years and just used as storage.  Sorry I have no pictures yet, but she thinks it was a "portable" desk from the civil war judging by pictures she'd seen of one, she described it as a trunk that when you open there are drawers and a flat surface for writing on.  Going on her description and hand gestures I'm guessing it's (very) roughly 2'wide x 3' long and probably about 2' deep, they were using one as a step to get into the rail car until they figured out it wasn't just an old trunk.  I'll get in to look at it and take some pictures but just wondered if any of you had any thoughts on what it might be?

[beenthere]

No thoughts without pics. ;)

Look forward to seeing them.

There are several pics and links to "Civil War writing desk" on google search.