The seats at the end of the car aren't any less desirable than the ones in the middle IMO. Where DID you hear that stuff, Pal?

Where DID you hear that stuff, Pal?>

on a recent thread- about not being as much room to put small bags under seats or something.

I once tried to buy tickets for a train leaving Rome for Florence a few hours later, at the station at FCO. 2nd class was sold out. I bought first, but the point is that it happens.

Yes it happens - one should buy their outward ticket from Florence when arriving in Florence to be sure even though first class may rarely sell out - there would always be regional trains Florence to Rome that would or could not sell out since those tickets are valid on any regional train during validity period - does not mean you'd get a seat but can board. I've taken regional trains on that route and even though they take about twice as long I enjoyed trains taking the old non-high-speed route and stopping a lot at sleepy stations and going thru towns whereas high-speed trains usually skirt all towns en route and do not stop. And they are dirt cheap - just a handful of euros - I had a Eurailpass and at that time would have had to pay 15 euros surcharge/seat reservation fee and go to a ticket window and buy it - I just decided to hop the regional train instead. So if trains are sold out regional trains are usually an option.