The burst of the 1990's Dot-Com Bubble has a lot of parallels to the 1900's boom in railroad speculation. Here is a partial list of railroads that sold stock but never laid many (or any!) rails...
 
The San Francisco, Napa & Calistoga Railroad
The California Central Railroad
The San Juan Pacific Railroad
 
The Ocean Shore & Eastern Railroad
 
The Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonville Railroad