Well, I don't think Brian's comments are "grossly disingenous and self-aggrandizing", since Brian isn't that kind of guy. And the offending comments were a very small part of the article, with the inevitable filtering of a newspaper writer who is even less sensitve to stuff like this.
But John is raising a very legitimate gripe with the way prior operators are being described these days. And since he was associated with most if not all of them, it is not surprising that he is sensitive to the issue.
I don't know a whole lot about Scenic, but certainly Kyle did a pretty good job of maintaining the power and equipment, and if I remember correctly Kyle was the operator that finally convinced the Commission that as landlord they were going to have to find some money for major track rehab...that is what started the EDA grant applications.
The Commission labored too long under the delusion created when the states bought the line that it would be a self-supporting operation. That might have been true on an operating basis, but clearly not with regard to major capital needs.
But the Commission has come around, and at this point it is not particularly helpful to rub their noses in past sins. But it's too bad that folks like Scenic and Kyle have become the scapegoats, because they deserve better.