I was just looking through the HD screen caps on TrekCore, researching my 3D bridge model, and looked at the background of this shot:
http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x03hd/wherenomanhasgonebeforehd052.jpg
It appears that, at that moment, the lift was behind the central command stations; I only noticed it because I couldn't figure out exactly which station was behind Mitchell, since communications and the captain's chair should've been there. Clearly they jockeyed the set pieces around for that shot.
So I guess, once upon a time, the bridge really was lined up with the ship ...
http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x03hd/wherenomanhasgonebeforehd052.jpg
It appears that, at that moment, the lift was behind the central command stations; I only noticed it because I couldn't figure out exactly which station was behind Mitchell, since communications and the captain's chair should've been there. Clearly they jockeyed the set pieces around for that shot.
So I guess, once upon a time, the bridge really was lined up with the ship ...
