Italian Train Tickets
 

It's been several years since we've been to Italy and I've got a few train ticket questions.

It appears just about all of our train travel will be on "R" level trains.

Are tickets dated? That is, do you buy a ticket for a specific date or are they good for a certain number of days after purchase (prior to validating and using them).

Once validated, how long are they good for? Specifically, can I buy a ticket to go from point "A" to point "C" and stop for a certain length of time in point "B"?

And anything else I should have asked but didn't think of.

You can use an undated R ticket for 30 or possibly 60 days after purchase.

It is possible to use an R ticket to go from Point A to Point C stopping in Point B, but they're only valid for a few hours, I think six in all. (It's not easy to verify information on the Trenitalia site.) Buy separate tickets to be safe.

Yes, if you are traveling on a Regionale train on one ticket from point A to point C and point B is a stop along the way, you can get off at point B for a short visit, and then continue on to point C, all on the same ticket.

A quote from the Trenitalia site: "Regional train tickets are valid for up to two months from the date of purchase. Remember to validate your ticket before boarding. After validation, the time validity starts depending on the journey length."

Here is the description about the duration of the ticket's validity:

Validation and duration
The time-length validity of your ticket starts from validation by stamping them in the dedicated machines ("obliteratrici") at the stations.
The journey must be completed within 24 hours from validation (in Trentino, by midnight of the day of issue). For distances longer than 200 km, the trip must be completed within 6 hours from validation (in Lombardy within 3 hours, for distances of up to 50 km).Tickets for journeys on regional trains with departure and destination stations in different regions are valid for 6 hours from stamping.