My GF and I took a last-minute long weekend upstate. On our way up to Saranac Lake, we stopped in Ticonderoga. Famous for its pre-Revolutionary fort, the town now sports another significant, historically-based tourist draw: the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour. Both being Star Trek fans (Trekkies would be overstating it, but more than casual fans for sure), we decided we needed to do this.
It's pretty damn cool, and astonishingly well done. The lobby has several large cases of original props and costumes. The hour-long guided tour of the sets included interesting tidbits about the production and props by a very knowledgeable guide (who very clearly is a Trekkie of the first order). But the sets are the real attraction. For anyone who's watched the original series often enough to recognize things, it's astonishing how carefully the Enterprise has been replicated. The man behind it all has apparently been working on them for decades, and is still adding to the layout.
Words don't really do it justice, so here's a bunch of pictures.
The transporter pads are fresnel lenses from 1000w stage lights:
The hallway lighting uses the same colors and pattern diffusers as on the show:
The screens are back-lit and set up with blue-screen borders just like the originals:
Ceilings are left open as they were on the set to allow for lighting:
Each tricorder was custom-built for the show, not made out of an old 8-track recorder like most people think. The intercom on the desk, however, was a GE AM desk radio with the gooseneck light cut off:
Kirk's mandatory copy of Moby Dick seen behind the desk in his quarters:
This bust from Kirk's quarters was actually an old RKO prop acquired by Desilu Studios when they bought it out. It first appeared in Citizen Kane. The screen behind it had to be hand-made from thousands of cut pieces of PVC pipe.
All the Red Alert buttons are linked and work throughout the set, activating the lights and klaxon:
And finally, the bridge. The office chair used for the captain's chair is the same model as the original. Yes, you can sit in it.
Well, that's it. By now, you are either very bored, moderately intrigued, or shaking uncontrollably and drooling on yourself while figuring out how to get to Ticonderoga, NY in the shortest possible time. Enjoy.
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