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Rail contracting industry entrepreneur and businessman Thomas Philip “Phil” Stout, who chaired the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) in 1992, died Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer, NRC officials announced yesterday. He was 75.

A Pennsylvania native, Stout co-founded Atlas Railroad Construction Co. with his father, William, in 1956, serving first as vice president and then president until 1986. In 1986, Phil Stout became president of Marta Track Contractors, which he led until Marta’s sale to Balfour Beatty Rail Inc. in 2000.

Stout was a “legend” in the rail contracting industry, said NRC President Chuck Baker in a prepared statement.

“Phil, along with the entire Stout family, was extremely supportive of the NRC and the rail construction and maintenance industry,” he said.

In 2003, the NRC presented Stout with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for making a “positive impact on thousands of people through his dedication, hard work and initiative,” Baker said.

“Phil was a true innovator and an entrepreneur, a famously hard worker and a mentor to many people in our industry,” Baker said. He credited Stout with creating the NRC’s annual Railroad and Construction and Maintenance Auction, the proceeds of which are dedicated to enhancing safety and training in the industry.

In addition to serving the NRC, Stout also served on the board of Pennsylvania’s Washington County United Way, the Council of Trustees at California University of Pennsylvania and the Liberty Mutual Insurance Advisory Board. He also was a member of the George Washington Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Pennsylvania Society.

Stout is survived by his wife, Diann, two daughters, a son and six grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the T. Philip Stout Entrepreneurial Scholarship Fund, c/o The Foundation for California University of Pennsylvania, P.O. Box 668, California, PA 15419.