1.   The courtship has had its ups and downs, and rival suitors have ensured the course of true love did not run smooth.

2.   But its statement followed reports that Norfolk Southern had wrested from Conrail and CSX an agreement to split Conrail between its rival suitors.

3.   For more than three months, the rival suitors competed for the support of Great Western investors in the courts and in the news media.

4.   For the moment, he said, BT is in talks with MCI and both rival suitors.

5.   From there, the two rival suitors traded bids.

6.   Later the next year investor Carl Icahn bought TWA after a long and bitter scrap with a rival suitor, Texas Air Corp.

7.   Meanwhile, Borden, which is based in New York, is continuing to talk with a potential rival suitor.

8.   Possible rival suitors include General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin, both of which are monitoring the situation and considering bids themselves, according to executives close to those companies.

9.   So far the rival suitor, Newport News Shipbuilding Inc. has no comment on the development.

10.   So far the rival suitor, Newport News Shipbuilding Inc., has no comment on the development.