I'm a little confused by the American Flyer #370 Geep; it appears to have solid pilots at each end, with a bar and no coupler(s).
What's up with that?
Mark in Oregon
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Yes the 370 had no couplers. The link coupler on the car would hook onto the bar on the 370. In practice it did not work well. My dad had a 370 as a kid and said he would use a string to tie the first car to the bar so it wouldn't unhook constantly.
The bar engages link couplers.
Rusty
... 
...seems like a rather odd approach, especially for a diesel "road switcher"!
Mark in Oregon
The original catalog illustration showed it with link couplers, but I have never seen one so equipped.
I received set 5112T for Christmas of 1952. At the time I was too young to remember it but I still have it. The link coupler bar was a clever solution that allowed coupling and uncoupling with link couplers. The key is flawless track carefully fastened down on a layout. Track laying on a floor will cause cars to uncouple from the 370. 370's also had poor traction so they would not pull many cars. Mine pulls 6 freight cars (two diecast) or 4 passenger cars (652, 652, 653, 654) on a layout with no uncoupling.
