I am seeking information about rail/boat passes...we want to travel from northern Germany to either Sweden or Norway and then use the pass to travel around Sweden and Norway..seems impossible to contact rail Europe these days
would much appreciate informwation
The most helpful rail site these days is www.bahn.de You can use it for all connections, not just in Germany. There is an English-language tab. Google will connect you to a couple of comprehensive sites for ferries in Europe.
Don't contact Rail Europe for anything... As the other poster noted, the one and only source to use for rail travel in Germany is Deutsche Bahn. They may also have information about ferries that depart from Germany. One of the miracles of Google maps is that not only does it display the ferry routes, it also allows you to directly click onto the website of the company that operates the ferry.
Forget about using Rail Europe. Use the ferry lines serving Germany and Scandanavia. There are ferry lines between Germany-Norway (Kiel to Oslo), Germany to Sweden (Travemünde to Malmö). If you have a rail Pass applicable to these contries, you do qualify for a discount (under certain circumstances) of 30%.