Maybe TRV's on the first radiator would change the behaviour of those on the farther rads?
I tend to like those old big radiators
Was it a steam-based one?
I imagine balancing a one pipe system was a bit of an art, TRV's were unheard of back then I'd imagine so didn't really enter the equation.
They are nice, if the room can carry them off but weigh a bloody ton!
No, but had a huge floor standing gas boiler to power it, somehwere in the region of 150000 BTU, and looking on street view, the whopper of a flue is still there, though unsure if still in use.