1969, the abandonment of steam traction by British Rail having taken away the market for its coal. Houses for the miners were built at Hersden, which still has a social club named the Chislet Colliery Social Club. Locomotives Yorkshire Engine Company 0-6-0ST (works # 2498, built 1951) worked at Chislet Colliery from 1960 until its closure. It has been preserved and now bears the name Chislet. Barclay 0-6-0DM (works # 382, built 1955) – following closure of the mine this locomotive moved to the Snowdown Colliery Railway. Shafts sunk North South Snowdown Snowdown was the deepest mine in Kent at 3083 feet. Work commenced in 1908, and coal was first brought to the surface on 19 November 1912. The first shaft sunk hit water at and 22 men were drowned. Snowdown, reaching a depth of . The colliery was served by the Faversham to Dover railway, and a halt (Snowdown and Nonington Halt) was provided. In 1945 the workforce was 1,876, with 1,523 being employed sub-surface and 353 above. The colliery closed in 1987 and the shafts were capped in 1988. A few ruinous buildings remain today. Shafts sunk No 1. No 2. No 3. Snowdown Colliery railway The colliery had an extensive internal standard gauge rail network, connected to the mainline at Snowdown and Nonington Halt. The line was operated by steam locomotives, the last of which survived in working condition after the demise of steam traction on the national mainline in 1968. The colliery railway was by then using a mixed fleet of steam and diesel locomotives, with the final steam withdrawals taking place in the late 1970s. The final three steam locomotives were named after saints with nearby Canterbury connections. St Thomas (named for St Thomas of Canterbury), St Dunstan (named for Dunstan, also a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury), and St Martin (named for St Martin, patron of England's oldest parish church, St Martin's Church, Canterbury). The colliery railway network was dismantled following the closure of the colliery in 1987. St Thomas and St Dunstan both survive into preservation. St Martin, which had been badly damaged when its tanks were left full of water which froze on a winter night, was scrapped. Locomotives Avonside 0-6-0ST St Thomas (works # 1971, built 1927) – survives as an exhibit at Dover Transport Museum. Avonside 0-6-0ST St Dustan (works # 2004, built 1927) – this locomotive has been preserved. Avonside