Full steam ahead as Britain marks the bicentenary of a world-changing rail journey

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of people on Saturday celebrated the 200th anniversary of the historic British train journey that laid the foundations for much of the modern age.

On Sept. 27, 1825, the first steam powered railway engine to run on a public railway — George Stephenson’s Locomotion No. 1 — made its 26-mile (42-kilometer) journey on the Stockton & Darlington Railway between Shildon and Stockton in the northeast of England.

It was a small but significant milestone, which augured rapid changes in the way Britain, and subsequently the world, lived, traded, traveled and communicated.

Though the Stockton & Darlington was not the first railway, it was the first to incorporate the standard-gauge, steam-hauled features that would become the foundation of railways around the world.

Railway enthusiasts have been marking the milestone at events across the U.K. over the year, and this weekend thousands flocked to the place where it all started to see a newly restored replica of Locomotion No. 1 recreate its original journey.

The steam engine, with three coal wagons and a passenger carriage, set off from the Locomotion Museum in Shildon on Friday and will travel along sections of the original line, arriving in Stockton on Friday.

Prince Edward, King Charles III's youngest brother, was among the passengers on board a carriage Friday being pulled by the replica engine on its short journey to Shildon.

Doug Haynes, 81, a retired aircraft engineer, traveled around 100 miles (160 kilometers) to Shildon to witness the re-enactment on Friday.

"It was tremendous,” he said. "The work that they have put in to make this happen has been well worthwhile. It was well worth the trip over for me.”

There were equally joyous scenes 200 years ago when people including newspaper reporters traveled from all over the country to line the track. A holiday was even declared for Darlington.

Those enthusing then could not have possibly imagined what the ripple effects would be as they cheered the passing Locomotion No. 1 — how it would transform their lives, their communities and the future.

Rail soon enabled the rapid transportation of industrial goods and raw materials, like coal and iron ore. It sped up urbanization and transformed social lives, by freeing up time for leisure activities and opening up the country to tourism and the middle classes.

Overall, it played a pivotal role in Britain becoming the global industrial and economic powerhouse of the 19th century and helped fuel the rapid expansion of the British Empire.

“It was amazing to see it moving,” said Louise Jones, 39, who watched the replica train begin its journey. “My dad used to work on the railways. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see what it would have looked like 200 years ago.”

Replica Locomotion No1 passes through Heighington, County Durham, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, on its first official journey in 200 years from the Locomotion Museum in Shildon to Darlington, as part of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of British passenger rail services. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Railway enthusiasts look at the Locomotion No 1 replica as it is prepared at the Locomotion Museum in Shildon, County Durham, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, on its first official journey in 200 years from the Locomotion Museum in Shildon to Darlington, as part of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of British passenger rail services. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Railway enthusiasts gather on the trackside near to replica Locomotion No1 ahead of its first official journey in 200 years from the Locomotion Museum in Shildon to Darlington, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025 as part of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of British passenger rail services. Picture date: Friday September 26, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire /PA via AP)

Replica Locomotion No1 approaches Heighington station, County Durham, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, on its first official journey in 200 years from the Locomotion Museum in Shildon to Darlington, as part of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of British passenger rail services. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Train driver Chris Cubit on board the Locomotion No 1 replica at the Locomotion Museum in Shildon, County Durham, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, on its first official journey in 200 years from the Locomotion Museum in Shildon to Darlington, as part of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of British passenger rail services. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was at the White House on Thursday discussing her country's future with President Donald Trump even after he publicly dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela. His administration has signaled its willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and, along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, remains in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela and sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was expecting a positive discussion during the lunchtime meeting and called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela.

The White House said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.

Leavitt said Trump is committed to seeing Venezuela hold elections “one day,” but wouldn’t say when that might happen.

Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate later Thursday. Trump has called her “a nice woman” while indicating they might not touch on major issues in their talks Thursday.

Her Washington swing began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

The White House says Venezuela has been fully cooperating with the Trump administration since Maduro’s ouster.

Rodríguez, the acting president, herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move thought to have been made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump wanted to win himself. She has since thanked Trump. Her offer to share the peace prize with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)