Another take on the Original Enterprise...

What about the all-too-often-ignored side "C"?

 

Well, we don't discuss THOSE types in polite society... (cough-cough)

Hey, if there IS another side (beside "THE BRIDGE VIEWSCREEN MUST FACE FORWARD - JIHAAAADDDD!" and "THE BRIDGE LIFT TUBE IS AT THE BACK - CRUSAAAADDDDEEEE!") I'd love to hear about it. (BRIEFLY)

 

My view is the viewscreen is centered forward and the lift tube is centered aft on the "real" <cough> Enterprise but that the "documentary" from the 60's changed the design of the bridge for dramatic purposes so that it still has the feel of the ship but isn't 100% accurate so that they could film easier.

 

My view is that the *exterior* should be changed to offset the nub to the left. That would tidy everything up quite well IMO, and keep the bridge faced forward.

 

err... umm... move the the entire town five miles down the road from its current site?

How about: Does it really matter? We're already arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, should we also argue if they are able to do a Waltz or a Tango?

FWIW, my treatment of the TMP/later movies Enterprise has one turbolift, one alcove with stairs (note: there are two lifts portrayed in the movies, and only one in the series). It is my firm conviction that you should not limit access to any place on the ship to be reachable only by turbolift. Any way I can find to permit ladders/stairs for movement of personnel is the preferred way. Even in the 24th C, machines break. If the turbolift breaks, how do you get on/off the bridge?

 

Here's my two quatloos worth, If you want the the bridge and ship to look exactly like we see it onscreen, then the only viable solution is to offset the viewscreen and command module. But if you want it to make structural engineering logic the way 'it would really have been built' then the only viable solution is to 'straighten it out' so that the turbo lift is behind the captain's chair etc. Having the turbo lift slide over at the top of the shaft is unecessarily complex and therefore not a viable solution IMHO (unless there are two lifts on the bridge), nor is having the entire shaft offset from the centerline, niether of these 'solutions' makes practical engineering sense from a design standpoint and is only an excuse to to 'have our cake and eat too'.
Personally, I just ignore the discrepancy when watching the show and only worry about 'engineering logic' when considering deck plans, which are supposed to make 'real' structural sense, unlike the the sets which can bend the rules for dramatic purposes!

 

Personally, I think the viewscreen faces forward, whilst the offset turbolift lines up with the nub on the outside using the same magic technology as the USS Defiant and that blast door from TWOK which allows starship scale to be variable depending on the time of day and allows the interior of the ship to contradict the features of the exterior.

 

I'll go ahead and drag my deck plan thread up from the abyss so that this new/old tangent can continue and Cary can get back to his version.

 

Actually, I think that offsetting the shaft makes sense, since it would make room at the centerline for more important systems and/or structures.

 

Sure, fair enough, but the turbo shaft is pretty high on the list of important stuff, so what exactly did you have in mind?

 

The subspace radio antenna?

 

why on vulcan would the turbolift need to be in the center of anything? symmetry is a keen idea, but its purely aesthetic in this detail.

 

I'm thinking more along the lines 'shortest distance between two points' while still providing basic ergonomic interior relationships. Sure, one could argue that idealy, the T/L should be right in the center of the bridge, but that's not very practical or strategic use of available space IMHO. The quickest most direct route from the bridge to say, the hanger deck, or engine room, or other major locations in the secondary hull (or the primary hull for that matter) is from the back centerline of the bridge to the saucer mid decks (deck 6, or 7 depending whos plans you use) below and then straight back to the dorsal shaft and on down to the secondary hull where it splits of again. These are just basic cosiderations that any engineer or archetect would entertain when building such a structure, real or imaginary.

 

GUYS...

I am not even remotely considering moving my version of the ship's lift shaft off of where I believe it was so obviously intended to be on the TOS ship.

Given that... what, exactly, is the purpose of discussing this point in this particular thread, again?

 

Well.....

I did try to be brief!

 

That is a third option like you requested.

 

Reminder: Continuing this particular discussion is encouraged in the "Deck Plans VI: The Undiscovered Bowling Alley" thread, just a few lines down from this one in the topic listing.

I will offer up this, however: It's possible that the bridge setup we're so familiar with is only one possible option, with the final arrangement of stations and turbolift doors being determined by the ship's mission profile and captain's choice. Under this model, a given bridge module could have the turbolift open up on the port, starboard, or directly aft, or have two or three sets of doors along that rear arc.

Discussion to continue here.

 

Well post some more pictures and analysis and maybe we'll talk about those.

 

Damn, looks pretty good. I've created a few Trek models of my own, and while they look kinda good they aren't as detailed as this, they certainly don't have interiors!

 

What about this: Subspace antenna/wiring trunk from top to bottom of the saucer (connecting the upper and lower sensor domes) Offset one side is the turboshaft, on the other the main stairwell.
Not that I’m suggesting it’s actually the case, but in theory – it seems to fit!