There are a few things you should know before your vacation if you plan on travelling by train.  Many trains require a reservation, when you purchase your ticket a teller will probably assign you a seat indicating a car and seat number.  You will have to tell them if you want first class or second class (30% more for first class), non-smoking or smoking and the date and time you wish to depart.  Remember that Europe is on a 24 hour clock, and 3pm is 15:00.  Months are started after the date, ie. March 8, 2003 will be written 8/3/03. 

Trains depart from platforms, which is normally indicating by a TV screen or a large bulletin board located near the front of the train station.  Many cities like Paris have multiple train stations and your ticket will indicate which train station, your train will be departing from.  Make sure you remember what station you will be arriving at, many times the English name for a city is different than the native language name, so check your ticket closely. 

Make sure you arrive at least fifteen minutes before your schedule train departure, since you will need time to find your platform and board your train.  Sometimes you will only be given 2 or 3 minutes to board your train, before it departs.  If you see a yellow or red box about 3 feet high near the platform, you will have to stamp your ticket using this machine before boarding the train.  Make sure you stamp your ticket in Italy, France and Switzerland.  This shows that your ticket is now in use and no longer valid on another day.