The word portable means different things to the railroads than to the ordinary citizen. When a building was referred to as portable by the railroads it related to the foundation being temporary, such as timbers or ties etc. rather than concrete or stone which would be permanent. Portable to the railroads did not mean the building cold be picked up and moved at will to a new location. It is believed that referring to these buildings as portables the railroads did not have to concern themselves with the local building bylaws that would apply to a permanent structure. Our set of two buildings is based on CNR plans drawn in 1923.  Included is a 4 man "portable" bunkhouse and a "portable" express office.  Each has walls of shingles and wainscot plus custom cast windows and doors, smoke jacks and bases for accuracy.  Campbell shingles are included along with Mt. Albert scale lumber. The walls are a combination of laser cut clapboard siding and shingled chipboard. The footprints are 1.75" x 4.75" for the bunkhouse and 1.75" x 3" for the Express building.