Itinerary and Train Pass Advice

You really have to add up your train trips because even the least expensive train pass is expensive. You didn't say how long you will be in Germany. Maybe a select pass for two countries, Switzerland and Germany may break even. It costs about $420 for 10 days of travel.

When you look at rail schedules look at reputable sites like trainline.eu or sbb.ch or bahn.de Bypass raileurope.com

Have you looked at map of your travels? Do you realize Zurich->Lucerne->Interlaken->Murren is in the opposite direction of Germany? Perhaps you could land in Zurich and then train directly to Murren and spend your nights there. Then train from Murren to Lucerne for a night. Then train to Germany from Lucerne.

I am flying into Zurich which is the very start of my trip. I will end in Germany - flying home from Frankfurt. I plan to go to Lucerne for 2 nights first mainly to help with jetlag before heading to higher elevations. I'm coming to Switzerland from basically sea level living! Are the cable/tramways included with rail passes? Are Eurail passes good on all types of trains? I've started looking at the train schedules - but it's a lot of information to decipher with different types of trains and what pass works on what trains. I'll be a total of 2 weeks between Switzerland and Germany - a bit more time in Germany. Right now, using the Rick Steves page about train tickets - I'm guessing I might spend roughly $500 for point-to-point tickets. So, Eurail Select sounds like it may be a little bit of savings on that guestimate. But, not sure if one of the Swiss passes may be better with riding the cableways and boat on Lake Lucerne. Thanks again for reading this and helping me sort things out.

Are the cable/tramways included with rail passes?

Some are. See this map here: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/infrastruktur/trafimage/karten/karte-sts-pass-gueltigkeit.pdf
This is the official map for the Swiss Pass, you should get a copy with your pass. All solid lines are covered rail (red) + bus (yellow) + boats + city transport. Dotted lines you get a reduction, see the key. Do not confuse dotted (....) lines with dashes (----), which are tunnels.
A Eurail pass covers slightly fewer rail lines, and no buses, boats or city transport.

Right now, using the Rick Steves page about train tickets - I'm guessing I might spend roughly $500 for point-to-point tickets.

Don't. Those prices are pay-on-the-day prices. Nobody pays those except people travelling at the last moment. for example if your employer is paying.

In Switzerland you can get a Half Price Card for CHF 120 per month, which means you pay half price for all tickets. It doesn't take long to pay off. Or you can buy a Swiss Pass and pay nothing else.

In Germany, you can get huge discounts on long distance trains (IC, ICE) by buying tickets in advance on the internet. Buy 2+ months in advance. There are also various deals by the local transport authorities. The various states (Länder) offer one-day passes valid on all local trains (no IC or ICE trains) and buses in the state.
See here for info: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/regional/index.shtml
Most cities also offer day passes which are good value.
You need to do the research, but most people can undercut Eurail prices with a bit of homework.

If you were to get a 2-country Select pass, I doubt that you'd really need the 10 travel days quoted in the first response. It might be that you'd only have about 4 days of fully covered rail travel and would not need to use counted days to get 25-50% mountain and lake discounts in Switzerland. See the coverage comparison between the passes at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes. On the other hand, for a Swiss (only) Travel Pass, you'll need to count more travel days to get the fuller coverage offered.

Travel from Muerren to Interlaken only takes one hour. I don't think it's worth breaking up the 6-hour trip to Germany. YOu probably don't want to buy all your German tickets ahead, but might find it worthwhile for one longer leg.

Thank you Chris and Laura - I appreciate the map and extra explanations regarding the passes. Right now, with the type of schedule I'm planning, I'm leaning towards the half fare pass because I won't have a lot of consecutive travel days other than just very localized travel around Murren (mainly the cable/trams). I also appreciate the feedback about staying in Interlaken. I was just thinking I might not like a really long train ride to Germany but if it really only saves me an hour, then it does make sense to just stay in Murren. Thanks again.