Pulp Adventures 1 — The Tunnel of The Roots

Today I start another new series within my blog, though this one won’t be as frequent as Comics I Bought Today. I would set it at the speed of Relocating the Marvel Universe or even my occassional series on the Masters of the Universe Mini-Comics.
So what’s this triumphant new category all about?
 Pulp Adventures!
More importantly, its about iinteresting objects, people, locations and events that can be used in a pulp-magazine style story or as part of a role-playing game plot, such as Spirit of the Century and Hollow Earth Expedition.. The key here is that I’m looking for story-hooks that actually existed in the real world from 1890 to 1950. Alternatively, I’ll make up fictional hooks that seem to gel well with era.

So, here’s the first ….

TUNNEL OF THE ROOTS

With construction beginning in 1929, the Tunel de las Raices or Las Raices Tunnel is a lengthy 2.8-mile  (4,538-meter) mountain bypass that links the town of Lonquimay with Curacautin, a municipality on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains in Chile. The tunnel runs north to south*.
Construction was completed by 1938.
Though the tunnel runs north-south, it is an important link in the east-west trade between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The tunnel was originally built to run a railroad but even that wasn’t running until the late 1950s. It has been since (re-)adapted to vehicular traffic. As such, it can only be utilized for one direction of traffic at a time.
The tunnel is the longest in South America.
At a half-mile (1,010 meters) above sea-level, cool temperatures and snow are a possiblity.
The tunnel is also near the Sierra Nevada volcano range, which is notoriously difficult to study do its remoteness.

LOCATION: Motorway 181, Chile

WIKIPEDIA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Ra%C3%ADces_Tunnel, also see a lengthy list on a variety of Chilean topics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chile-related_topics

STORY AND SCENE IDEAS: 

• Why is it called the tunnel of the roots? Because the roots it uncovers stretch deep down from high above. These special trees are considered sacred by a native tribe, and they fight to stop the construction.
• A motorcycle chase leads into the tunnel against the traffic.
• Adventurers must stop an ambush inside the tunnel.
• Sabotage is feared after several accidents during construction, and adventurers must investigate.
• During construction, ancient, and possibly cursed, artifacts are unearthed. Some want to steal them. Others want to rebury them. Still others want to discover their secrets.
• A sinkhole opens up in the middle of the tunnel, leading to a bizarre underground land. Dozens of travelers drive right into the hole, and the adventurers must rescue them.
• Money used to fund the tunnel’s construction goes missing, and adventurers must find out who took the loot and recover it.

* This is my best guess, judging from very sketchy map coordinates.