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Furthest Radiator Not Really Heating But Inlet Pipe is Hot...Need Perspective

Hi, need a little direction. Single-pipe steam piping from 1940 but last owner replaced boiler. Works well in all rads but the furthest. Measures approx. 3'Lx18"Hx 8"D. Issue came to forefront when prolonged gurgling whistle from air vent woke up the people sleeping in the room. No water hammer, just the noise from the vent. The supply pipe is hot, the inlet shutoff valve valve appears to work and the pipe from the valve to the rad is hot. The first section gets warm, but that's it. I removed the air vent altogether to see if that was the problem. After turning the thermostat up and waiting maybe half an hour I finally got good steam (with the vent out). Shut the valve, installed the vent and re-opened the valve. The vent shut but once the thermostat was turned down we go back to square one. Read We Got Steam Heat and am resolved to make this work. The vent is new, #11 Vent-Rite. The rad has pitch towards the inlet. When The rad was cold, I opened the fitting to the inlet valve and drained out maybe a cup and a half of water. What would inhibit the steam from continuing to fill the radiator? What can I do about it? Thanks.
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EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202744301871904.1073741828.1330391881&type=1&l=c34ad6ee78
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England.
Hoffman Equipped System (all original except boiler), Weil-Mclain 580, 2.75 gph Carlin, Vapourstat 0.5 -- 6.0 ounces per square inch
After lifting the rad and rechecking pitch, heat will come but still only if I push the thermostat up a few degrees. Still sputters and whistles though, not the clean quick hiss and click of the vent. The rest of the rads in the house get quite hot in the meantime. There is about 1/8 of a bubble pitch towards the inlet. Should I try for more? Can one over-pitch? Keep raising?
The inlet valve closes, but do they ever not fully open or not drain the condensate? What if the pipe under the floor has sagged? Any other troubleshooting you could recommend?
Trying to assess the venting. Just to be clear, when you say 'vent the end of the main', are you saying that there should be more vents than the ones at the returns? There are two V-R #35s visible, each one just before the return lines drop back down to the boiler's wet return. Can't see any other vents besides the ones on the rads, and a drop ceiling hides most of the piping in the basement. Also, the #35s don't seem to ever close, just vent air then blast steam onto the underside of the first floor. Not sure if they are original or if the last owner replaced them with the boiler. Of course, they are not budging for inspection but before I get 'more convincing', they should close, correct?
Getting some pictures and technical info together, thanks for the patience and knowledge. This is very helpful site.
Yes, Vents should close when steam hits them.
If the radiator is pitched and the piping in the basement is also pitched and doesn't have any sags then there might be a horizontal pipe between the ceiling and the second floor. Try lifting the entire radiator up by 1/2 to 3/4" and see if that changes things.
Bob
Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
3PSI gauge