Benelux Trains

I don't have an answer to your main query but I do use Trainline.com at times. It used to be Capitaine Train which I used a lot but was bought out several years ago. Sometimes their website/app is easier to book on and sometimes I just can't get my CC to go thru on the SNCF website. I would not use RailEurope as it sometimes does not give complete schedules but Trainline works for me.

Thanks, Pam. I used Trainline when traveling within France and it was fine. However, I've done a couple of searches through them for this trip and they routed me once with 3 trains and another time with 4, so that was weird.

Oh, that IS odd!! I did a quick search before I posted and there was one route with just one transfer at Brussels Nord but I did not know the 2nd train company they routed on so didn't mention it. I also can't really make out the logo, hahahah!!!, I think it is CFLZ?

Have a look at the Dutch train website, nsinternational.com, as you’re starting at Schiphol. They have an English version. All the routes I just checked have 2 or 3 changes of train, so it might not be the best decision to go straight through to Luxembourg on your first day. It’s much simpler to get to Brussels, so if you’re intending to go there anyway, what not start with that and then go to Luxembourg when you’re feeling rested? Or if you have plans to go somewhere in Holland, just go there to start? Anything slightly complicated will feel much easier to manage when you’re not feeling jetlagged.

Amsterdam to Luxembourg isn’t a very common route. There are no direct trains from Amsterdam to Luxembourg, nor from other places in the Netherlands to Luxembourg. You can however get to Luxembourg from Amsterdam with 1 change in Brussels.
As a rule of thumb, you should always book with the company that actually operates the train. In the Netherlands trains are operated by a company called NS. The Belgian railways are operated by the national railway company called NMBS (in Flemish) or SNCB (in French). Both companies also operate trains that cross the border.
Both companies have separate websites for domestic train travel and for international train travel.
The website of the Dutch national railway company for domestic trains is https://www.ns.nl/en
Their website for international train travel is https://www.nsinternational.com/

The website of the Belgian railway company for domestic train travel is https://www.belgiantrain.be/en
Their website for international train travel is https://www.b-europe.com/EN

A train trip from Amsterdam to Luxembourg can be booked on both the Dutch and the Belgian websites. No matter where you book, the price will be the same and you will end up in the same trains.

Amanda, that was my original plan - just go to Belgium on the first day and don't mess with trying to do too much. But then I thought I'd just check and see about going to the farthest point and work my way upwards, and perhaps we could get there with just one train change, but then it became confusing as to how to figure that out. Looks like Dutchtraveler has the info I need ... so thank you Dutchtraveler for that. I realize too that I'm looking at a date too far in advance to get actual train times, an additional complication. Thank you all for your help!

Have you thought about booking an open jaw ticket? This means you would be flying into Brussels from the US and flying back to the US from Amsterdam.

Yes, I looked at that, and haven't completely ruled it out, but getting to or back from Brussels from Richmond entails two flight changes using our British Airways vouchers that we will be using for this trip. Do-able, but also more opportunities for something to go wrong. It probably is going to be best to do Belgium first, Luxembourg 2nd, then Netherlands/Amsterdam but I'm trying to map out all the possibilities and then see. I do appreciate your directing me to the two different sites for travel for NL and BE, one international and one within the country, because that's where I was going wrong.

I think it is CFLZ?

quoting Pam.

That's the Luxembourg national railway company (also runs buses). CFL. Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois. Has a preference for the colour red in much of what it does (which it by and large does very very well).

Nigel!! Thank you so much! I suspected it was the Luxembourg Rail system but my google skills failed me!