Re-Used Props - Containers
by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider
Cargo Containers and TanksOther Boxes and Bottles
Many props of Star Trek were reused, with or without modifications, to represent equipment for a different purpose or of another civilization. Here are many examples of containers and bottles of various sizes. Please take the following statements with a grain of salt. There is no need to seek for explanations why the same boxes can be seen just everywhere in the galaxy.
Cargo Containers and Tanks
Cylindrical tanks
These tanks were originally seen on the Regula I research station in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". They appeared again in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" on Vulcan, behind La Forge in the underground Farpoint Station tunnels in TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint" and on Mordan IV in TNG: "Too Short a Season".
Conical containers
The same containers can be seen in the Genesis cave in "Star Trek II", on Gamma Hromi II in TNG: "The Vengeance Factor", on the Zibalian ship Jovis in TNG: "The Most Toys" and in the illusory future created for Riker in TNG: "Future Imperfect", here allegedly of Romulan origin. This prop was originally a Little Tikes Apollo Space Capsule that was painted silver or copper to appear less toy-like.
Onion-shaped containers
These characteristic spherical containers show up in the Cardassian labor camp in DS9: "The Homecoming". The prop reappears aboard USS Voyager in VOY: "Learning Curve", on the Alsaurian planet in VOY: "Resistance" and on the planet of the Borg Cooperative in VOY: "Unity". The Vori use this design for containers as well as for a generator of unknown purpose. The same prop is utilized on Hirogen ships as a sort of control console.
Later, in Voyager's season 6, the onion-like containers appear on the Brunali planet. The prop can also be seen aboard the ECS Fortunate. The containers were modified to act as parts of the Romulans mine in ENT: "Minefield" and of the deuterium headframes in ENT: "Marauders". Finally, the prop appears at the entrance of the mine in ENT: "The Xindi" and in the background, beside the spherical container, in ENT: "Anomaly".
The onion-shaped containers even show up in the new continuity in "Star Trek (2009)". Two of them can be seen on the Narada when Spock and Kirk board the ship towards the end of the movie.
A similarly structured but more angular variant of the container appears on the crashed USS Hiawatha in DIS: "Brother".
Outside the Trek Universe one of these containers shows up in the Firefly episode "War Stories".
Spherical containers
The EPS regulators on DS9 can also be seen in DS9: "Time's Orphan" at the time portal of Golana, where they must have been around for many centuries. The prop appears in at least eleven more episodes, most often as freight containers. Only in one of its latest known incarnations as flower pots in ENT: "Oasis" the spheres are used in a similar fashion as originally intended. In real life, this is a composter named "Bio Orb".
The round compost containers appeared not only in Star Trek but also in "Babylon 5", "Crusade" and "Galaxy Quest".
Self-replicating mines
Speaking of composters, the self-replicating mine from DS9: "A Call to Arms" was built from a composter too. The prop showed up in at least seven other episodes, usually as cargo containers. In VOY: "Memorial", ENT: "Favorite Son" and ENT: "Anomaly", we could even see a combination of this type of composters and the one above. Most remarkably the composters formed a part of the hull of the Tellarite freighter in ENT: "Bounty".
Bolian container & mining drill
The Bolian container from DS9: "Who Mourns for Morn?" was only slightly modified to act as the upper part of a drill on the New Sydney colony in DS9: "Prodigal Daughter".
Trolley
The same trolley is used in mines of many civilizations.
Other Boxes and Bottles
Column with black top
In TOS: "Dagger of the Mind" (as medical containers), TOS: "The Galileo Seven" (as a transporter test cylinder), TOS: "This Side of Paradise" (as a container on Omicron Ceti III), TOS: "I, Mudd" (on the android planet), TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles" (on K-7) and TOS: "The Enterprise Incident" (in the Romulan cloaking room) we can see the same type of cylindrical columns with a black top. On the three latter occasions they may be air conditioning systems.
Cylindrical container
Cylinders with an octagonal cross-section could be seem in countless episodes of Star Trek, most notably as Starfleet sample containers and transporter test cylinders, and sometimes embedded into walls. Overall, these props appeared in at least 40 episodes or movies! The prop was made from containers for sonobuoys of the U.S. Navy. A separate article shows all appearances of these containers: Re-Uses of Sonobuoy Containers.
Octagonal box
The box for the Albeni meditation crystal that Riker gives to Beata in TNG: "Angel One" is the same that O'Brien uses to transport his spider, as seen in "Realm of Fear".
Plastic suitcase
The Acamarian delegation travels with the same type of suitcase in TNG: "The Vengeance Factor" as Vash in "Captain's Holiday" and Wesley in "Ménage à Troi".
Blue bottle
A blue bottle acts as a Zalkonian data storage device in TNG: "Transfigurations". The same bottle appears on a market place on the Mari homeworld in VOY: "Random Thoughts".
Glass jar
The same glass jar can be seen in the Vidiian lab in VOY: "Phage" and in Voyager's sickbay, for instance in VOY: "Parturition".
Klingon bloodwine bottle
A bottle that was previously used for Klingon bloodwine can be seen as an Eska bottle in ENT: "Rogue Planet".
Spherical bottle
We can see the same type of a small spherical container in very different times, locations and functions. In real life this device is called a LOX (liquid oxygen) bottle or LOX converter, as it is used especially in older military aircraft.
Plasma bottle
Since we could previously see it as a plasma bottle in VOY: "Prototype", Janeway's thermos flask in VOY: "Endgame" probably holds the hottest tea ever. The prop looks like it could be a real thermos flask.
Three conical bottles
A set of three conical bottles with the Vidiian antidote in VOY: "Resolutions" can be seen again in "Body and Soul", now in the sickbay of the Lokirrim ship. It appears that the yellow liquid is a permanent filling (or just painted on) because it looks identical in both episodes.
See Also
Re-Used Props - Miscellaneous Equipment - robots, bulky equipment
Re-Uses of Sonobuoy Containers - U.S. Navy containers in more than 40 episodes and movies
Credits
Most HD caps from TrekCore. Thanks go to Philip Bober and Lin Jingqiu for sightings of containers, to Greg McAvoy for information and pictures of the LOX bottle and to Shawn Havery and Michael Minnick for finding several more props.
Houston We Don't Have a Problem @ Third Wave Design
with more information about the cone-shaped containers
