Planning the trip
When buying you ticket, you can buy them online at Renfe.com but I don't believe they take American credit cards. Some of my friends said the website does take PayPal.
( For finding trains, I prefer this cite because I find it easier. It's not from Spain but it has many trips across Europe. http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml. )
It tends to be easier to go to the closest station to get the tickets. The clerks behind the counter are pros at trains and so can help you make sure you get on the trains you need to get to your destination. You just go up, tell them where you are going and then tell them around what time you want to arrive or leave. Make sure to check the tickets for the times but usually they are correct.
Also, as a visitor to Spain, you can get a renfe pass, which is basically a pass where you can buy a certain number of train trips. Just FYI, 4 tickets actually costs the same as 2 trips. I bought four trips for around 168€ while the two trips I believe costs about 169-170€. I also had to buy a connecting trip to Madrid from Segovia to get to the AVE station in Madrid and the trips there and back cost about 20-30€.
Stations
One thing to keep in mind when planning a trip is how you are going to get to and from the station. The Segovia Guiomar station is quite a way out of town and so you need to make sure that you leave in the bus that will get there with sufficient time to get on the train.
Also, make sure you know how to get to your hostel or hotel before arriving in the city, because you need to know if you have to walk, take a taxi, or take the metro and there are not many wifi spots in Spain if you don't have data.
NOTE: If you are traveling through Madrid, there are two stations. One is Charmartin and the other is Atocha. Especially if you are coming from or going to Segovia, you will need to take a third train called Cercanías (not listed on your tickets) from Charmartin to Atocha by swiping the barcode of the ticket that is leaving from Atocha at a Cercanías machine so that you can travel between stations.
Directions: All you have to do is go up to one of the ticket machines (usually red and says Cercanías) and click the button that says connection or something about traveling between stations (it was a yellow button on the left of the screen for us). It will then ask you to scan you tickets (scan the ticket for the train that will leave or arrive in Atocha) and then it will want to know where you are going. You will pick either Atocha or Charmartin. After that you will receive your ticket and you are good to go.
Traveling by Train: Finding your platform
About 20-30 minutes before boarding, the platform at which your train will arrive will appear on the screen that lists the trains. Make sure to find your train (sometimes it won't have the name of where you are going, but rather the direction it is going, like Valladolid instead of Segovia so just check the train number instead by comparing the number on the board to the one on your ticket). After that, simply find your platform.
Traveling by Train: Boarding
This is extremely simple to figure out. Before boarding, your tickets is scanned and then you put your baggage through a scanner. You then find you compartment and seat. Coche means "car" so that is the compartment you are in while plaza is what seat in that compartment. 
NOTE: When you find your seat, it might have a v or a p next to it. V stands for ventana or window and p stands for pasillo or aisle. They might also just use a rectangle to show that that seat is a window seat. It depends of the train.
Once you find where you are sitting, you can place your equipaje or baggage either above you or on the racks at the end of the cars if that train has them. After that you can sit down and relax. Some trains will play movies and have stations of music that you can listen to, with the control located beside the seat. If you don't have earphones, some of the train workers usually walk around as the train departes and hand out audifonos or headphones. Some trains even had plugs where you can charge your phone or other electrical devices. Most trains will also have a food and drink car and all of them have bathrooms.
NOTE: One thing that is important is that doors close 2 minutes befor departure so make sure you are there before that. 
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