The character in the novel and the subsequent film combined elements of real-life railroad detectives Joe Lefors, who was employed by the Burlington line, and Timothy Keliher of the Union Pacific.

[1] In the 1948 film Whispering Smith, Alan Ladd starred as the no-nonsense railroad investigator assigned to solve the mystery of a rash of train robberies.

A sound picture set in modern times, Whispering Smith Speaks, was released in 1935, though, in that film, the titular character was a railroad track walker rather than a detective, who solves a crime on the side.

[1] In 1951, the film, Whispering Smith Hits London, also set in modern times, starred Richard Carlson as an American detective working on a special case at Scotland Yard in England.

After seven episodes of the series were filmed, co-star Guy Mitchell, a recording artist who portrayed detective George Romack, broke his shoulder in a fall from a horse.

Whispering Smith aired at 9 p.m. Mondays opposite the CBS sitcom The Danny Thomas Show and the second half of the ABC modern detective series Surfside 6.

[8] Among current and future stars who appeared on Whispering Smith were Timeless Media Group released 25 episodes of this series in a 3-disc Region 1 set on April 20, 2010.