My favorite German train story was when we had a global meeting in Germany. It was the first time in Europe for one of our employees. He dutifully studied all about the trip. He flew into another city and planned on taking the train to Frankfurt. This was before the proliferation of smart phones.
He got his ticket, reserved a seat and walked to where the sign said his train car would be. The train came in backward, so the actual train car was not where he was. He panicked, trying to figure out what to do. Meanwhile the train is about to leave and the conductor is shouting to him and waving for him to get on the train (in German). He tries to communicate back to him (in English) that he is trying to find his specific seat by shouting out the car number.
So, the conductor is telling him to just get on the train and he is shouting back his car number....which is number 9. Oops.
He finally realizes and jumps on the train.