The Enterprise Dorsal Problem: how did the turbolifts pass through it?

In this video, we take a look at the interior of the dorsal (or neck) of the refit Enterprise, and wonder how the turbolifts managed to move through it, given its restricted space and the presence of the vertical intermix chamber.

#StarTrek #StarshipEnterprise #culture

[martystrasinger]

I always appreciated that the AI running the turbolifts always knew how to time its speed, so that the passenger conversations always ended just as the destination was reached.

[eemsg]

As we all know, the refit Enterprise has a straight vertical turbolift shaft that runs through 78 of its 21 decks.

[adamperry]

I have emailed Andrew Probert, the designer of the refit Enterprise, many times. He said his plan was to have the turbolifts move upwards from the hangardeck, move forward paralleling the engine room. They would then turn in front of engineering and begin traveling upward between the torpedo tubes and just forward of the vertical intermix shaft in the dorsal connector. They would then end up in the saucer section just forward of the impulse deck.

[garethmurtagh]

In the turbo lifts in TOS there’s a panel on the wall that when the lift was moving would either show a pattern of lights going from top to bottom, when Kirk and co we’re going to engineering, or bottom to top when they were going to the Bridge, sometimes the lights would go from side to side. I always thought this was showing how the lift was moving during the scene

[concidius]

I always thought of the lifts as more like a pneumatic tube style setup. Given the control of gravity in the ship they could easily shift into diagonal, vertical, or horizontal. All that really matters is that at the end it orients to the destination. The entrances could be punchouts that allow for loading and the initial click simply the reorientation to the lift line.

[bobblum]

On a similar note:
The *Gateway Arch* at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, was originally planned as just a monument. A viewing room at the top was considered, but the Arch's triangular cross-section and its overall shape being an inverted weighted catenary curve of 630 feet in both height and width, would have only allowed for stairs. Many engineers thought it was impossible to install elevators; the one-of-a-kind design of a tram system was conceived in just two weeks by a man named Dick Bowser, who never received a college degree. The tram system has been in use since 1967.

[gazs]

I'm not gonna lie, throughout the video I was constantly saying to myself that there are probably two turbolift networks. After finishing the video I went and looked at Connie refit MSDs and sure enough, the turbolift in the secondary hull does in fact lead into where the core is (a deck or two below where the impulse engines are) to which another turbolift door sits on the other side (to the front) of the warp core. A pretty simple idea as a person would just have to walk around the warp core to get into the next lift to get into the saucer. Perhaps not the most ideal but definitely an easy solution.

[balrighty]

I think this gets solved if we don’t assume the vertical warp core goes all the way to the impulse deflection crystal. If we instead say that the core extends upwards towards an “impulse engineering complex” (one that has the deflection crystal in line with, but not necessarily directly connected to, the upper end of the warp core), then we can suppose that the turbolift shaft simply passes horizontally between the top of the core and the deflection crystal.

[Mysticinvestigations]

Every ship has that small area where the only option is to beam the entire turbo lift to the closest shaft. There's also the one where the turbo lift is shot into space and it utilizes its own thrusters to re-enter the ship at the appropriate shaft.

[AVClarke]

In my opinion, we have a scale problem. They were never consistent in the overall size of the ships in relation to interior shots. The set designers treated the ships like TARDIS's. (bigger on the inside than the outside) "Look, there's just enough room for a turbolift." "But how.." "It just is!!"

[MatthewCaunsfield]

The book "Mr Scott's Guide To The Enterprise" postulated that the turbolift slides into the dorsal on G-deck from the side, then goes down, aft, down, aft and finally down (behind the torpedo room) into the secondary hull. It's a lot of manoeuvres but it does fit!

[kaitlyn__L]

I always tend to assume scaling issues when it comes to things like this. Especially given how big those dorsal windows look against the height of the deck, while we’re shown more traditional size portholes on the sets. If we scale up by 20-50% there’s plenty of room for the turbolift to go around.

Similarly the size of the windows on the Excelsior model would actually be a little too small.

They’re what looks best on the models of course, and I wouldn’t really want to swap the size of the windows on either of them. But the windows alone present a sizing and placement issue of decks and internal machinery, so I don’t think too hard about the rest of the insides. Scaling-up slightly would help fit the torpedo complex inside the bulge at the base of the dorsal too.

[UberNeuman]

There isn't a full end of the warp core on H-deck, instead just a lockdown/venting connector leading to the topside warp crystal.
Hence a full room isn't used for the core leaving room for a turbo lift to pass through it and up to the main saucer.

[christopherrobin]

I gotta say I love the attention you have given to your cutaways, makes it very easy to visualize the interior of the ship. Would love to see you cover other areas of the ship, especially those in the plans not shown on the shows or movies.

[James-rndx]

Kirk didn't leave the torpedo bay and go to the Bridge in TWOK, he went down to Enginering first which makes sense as he would have walked out the door to the warp core area and then down one deck.

[darmtb]

Damn you, I can’t unsee this 🤣🤣👍
Amazing detailed work this!👌👌
That relaxation helped me massively 😉😉😁

[bravodelta]

In the motion picture, there's a scene with Kirk in the turbolift just after arriving and surveying the cargo deck.
At the rear of the lift cab, there's a map with a moving light showing the primary lift layouts. Going by that, the vertical shaft is either to the front or sides of the vertical warp core segment.
As on the Discovery from 2001 not everything will fit, and we have to go with it :)

[toyloliSpare]

dude, your solution to this is offscreen lift changes. I would assume over the course of the ship there would be at least two turbo lifts in the saucer, and possibly a horizonta one. There would be a turbo lift along the back of the dorsal, and the lower body would have two or three as well. I assume horizontal 'lifts' would be a must for quick transport around the ship, if you can go on an angle why not horizontal. This means he could get a lift upwards, get out, walk five meters to another lift and make it to his destination. Horizontal lifts would also make it possible to the bridge quicker than walking.

[kirishima]

This is the brand of nerdy pedantic nonsense I love ❤

[PaleandPastey]

"In our next episode; how many Angels can dance on the head of a pin?" 😂