Traveling on train in evening or at night in Germany and Switzerland

Even if you travel at night there are still only 24 hours per day. When you say travel at night do you mean you will not have a hotel room? You will just sleep on the train between destinations? That does not sound very good. You have too many destinations in too few days.

so- about 6 hours AMS to St Goar-- St Goar to Strasbourg is about 5 hours- Strasbourg is 6 or 9 or 10 hours... Not much time to enjoy the culture. For now I looked on google maps for estimations and next summer might be easier.
I too feel you need to eliminate at least one and probably 2 or 3 destinations for a week long trip.

It would be much better to prioritze your stays. Also realize how iffy the weather can be in zermatt, any time of yr. u have limited time for long distances.
There are some overnight trains with long distances. Do not short your muerren stay it is amazing and beautiful. I hope zurich is just business or the airport for u as there is minimal there for a visitor.

It is difficult to get train schedules now for July 2017, so I'm not sure what the train schedules are like.

You can check the current schedules to get an idea. Usually, the general times only change a little bit over the course of a year.

However, if you're thinking of a night train with a couchette where you can sleep and wake up at your destination... think again. These are mostly being phased out across Europe, and would have been unlikely on the routes you have listed even when night trains were common. Traveling at night between these locations would likely involve several transfers and long waits in the middle of the night in various train stations. What little sleep you manage would not be nearly sufficient.

It is difficult to get train schedules now for July 2017

Most timetables for next year have already been published. If not, assume they will be the same as currently. They usually only change slightly. I hope you are looking up your times on the websites of the companies running the trains ( https://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml ). Re-sellers like Eurail only show some trains.

All the trips you listed are well under 8 hours. There are no sleeping trains. Any trains travelling at night will have seats only.
Amsterdam - St Goar ~4h45 with 2 changes
Strasbourg to Zermatt ~5h with 2-3 changes
You will not get any sleep, or a wash or a chance to change clothes.

Come on, Chris. That is sort of 'doom and gloom', don't you think? He should definitely have time to wash his hands and change clothes while on the train, and awake, for 5+ hours...

But really OP, that is aggressive for a week and nigh impossible to enjoy. Cut the number of cities in half. You will enjoy the trip so much more.

Cabalist, perhaps it was. I rephrase: "No private cabin, no chance to lay down (seats only), no chance to change or wash (unless you do it in the cramped toilet room).
No matter how young you are, consecutive nights on a non-sleeper train is not good.
6 locations in 6 nights is not possible, the Golden rule is minimum 2 nights per location, no one-night stands!

Yeah, between 1)the time changing trains, 2) getting ready to change trains, and 3) the time actually aboard, a hand wash and quickie change is all you will get! And no good views to boot. THAT is doom and gloom right there.

Btw, what is so important to you about each city? That should help put things in perspective ;)

Amsterdam-
Sankt Goar-
Strasbourg-
Zermatt-
Muerren-
Zurich-

Also, I am assuming that you are flying on an open jaw ticket--those tend to be higher priced. Circular itineraries can be helpful.

If you actually don't care about a couple (also read as: you care about others more) then it might be smart to cut them and just deal with a longer train ride that day. Venice is the Amsterdam of the South (hehe) and closer to Switzerland. Sort of-kind of-similar with the canals and everything. Kind of. But without the party of Amsterdam...

So you want to take a train through the Alps at night when it is dark and you can't see anything so you can get to Murren and Zermatt to see the Alps.

And do the same in the Rhine Valley and eastern France.

The scenery is not important as long as you get to the destination to see the scenery.

This is a concept I never understood and one RS seems to promote.

I agree with the above. Cut the number of cities in half. You will need sleep.

Two years ago, we went from St. Goar to Murren. It was a long 8 hour day that in hindsight was a wasted day. I am figuring time to get checked out in one city to the train and get checking in at next location.

Now saying that, I would would go to Wengen as opposed to Murren, opposite side of the same valley. We have stayed in both and enjoyed Wengen better.

I have not been to Zermatt Switzerland as of yet so I cannot comment, but others here can.

Slow down and breath the air.

Wade