golden pass reservations

The "Golden Pass" route is Luzern - Interlaken - Montreux. It is not one train but a series of trains, you have to change en route (Interlaken, Spiez and Zweisimmen). As with all Swiss train routes, there is one train per hour (at least). The "Golden Pass" train is an extra train for the tourists with panoramic windows. See here: http://www.goldenpass.ch/en
It is only this one train that requires a reservation, all other trains on the route do not have reservations (same as 99% of the trains in Switzerland). The other trains still go past the same scenery.

The train times are already on-line up to December 2015. Look them up on the Swiss Federal Railways site: www.sbb.ch

The Goldenpass line runs in different segments from Luzern to Interlaken to Zweisimmen to Montreux. I believe the panoramic train only runs on the Zweisimmen-Montreux segment. One used to be able to make reservations for the panoramic train direct on the GoldenPass site (http://www.goldenpass.ch/en), but it appears they have taken away that feature. So you may have to wait until your arrive in Switzerland to do that. You can do it at any train station. You may also want to consider the "classic" golden pass train which uses vintage Pullman carriages; the first class cars are stunning! For the other trains you mention like Zurich to Luzern simply use the regular inter-city train, wit the Swiss Pass you simply hop on and off the trains...no extra tickets necessary.

it is only this one train that requires a reservation, all other
trains on the route do not have reservations (same as 99% of the
trains in Switzerland).

Not so. Reservations are not required for the panoramic or classic train. They are strongly recommended during the summer season. But if there are unreserved seats you can hop on the train with a Swiss Pass like any other train. Done it many times.

The Golden Pass cover the lines between Luzern and Montreux, so you will be taking a standard train between Zurich and Luzern in any case. You can make seat reservation on this site if you wish: reservations.

There are also plenty of other trains running over those lines, some with large windows, some not. We normally take the standard trains because you have more freedom to move around, open a window to take a picture and so on.

Reservations are suggested, not required, on the leg from Interlaken to Montreux. Depends on whether it's high season or not; from what I saw, if the train is going to be busy you're best served with seat reservations esp. if you have a party of 4 or so. Also make sure you're facing in the direction you prefer and the seats are grouped as you wish.

Rail Europe offers this option when you're booking your train tickets.

The Golden Pass route is run by a private company with its terminus in Montreux, next to the regular Montreux train station. Be advised that, unfortunately, the Montreux station is either largely shuttered for financial reasons or is undergoing long-term (i.e., permanent) renovation so it does not have the services you'd expect in a large city station. But this is where you would leave the Golden Pass train and transfer to trains going to Chillon castle, Vevey or Lausanne.

True, Golden Pass Reservations are not required...just ask the people who we booted out of our reserved seats on a rather full train :-)

Why buy from RailEurope? Just go directly to the source: http://www.goldenpass.ch/en and cut out the middleman!