Young actor Ellie-Mae Siame, 14, has been cast as the voice of Nia, an orange and black engine with the number 18, in Thomas & Friends: Railway Stories. A full-length YouTube special featuring Nia premiered recently and has already been viewed over two million times. The special will be available on Netflix starting 30 September, with a full series expected to air in 2027. Ellie-Mae described the experience as "crazy" and shared that she was contacted by her agent and did a filmed audition in January. She had expected either no response or a recall for a read-through, but was offered the role of Nia immediately. Ellie-Mae said she was surprised and excited to be cast, noting that the role opens "such a big pathway" for future opportunities in her career. Ellie-Mae has been acting since she was five years old and has appeared in several TV productions, including Four Kids and It, Generation Z, His Dark Materials, Modern Love, and My Week with Maisy, where she starred alongside Dame Joanna Lumley. She enjoys both screen and voice acting, but prefers voice acting because it allows her to use different voices without needing to learn a script in advance. Initially, Ellie-Mae was not fully aware of how large the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise was, but her parents and others helped her understand its growing popularity since its debut in the 1980s. She found the role special because it combines her love of acting and singing, and she can be heard on the programme's theme tune. Recording one of the songs for an episode and seeing Nia on screen for the first time were among her favorite memories.