From the arrival of the railway in Hamilton, Frankton was a railway town. In 1923, the suburb became even more railway-orientated when the Frankton Junction Railway House Factory opened, producing the famous George Troup designed railway houses sent to many North Island railway settlements, which are now sought-after pieces of real estate. Its 60 workers produced almost 1400 pre-fabricated railway houses at a peak rate of 400 a year, using rimu and matai from the railway's central North Island forests. When, in 1926, government cuts reduced the need for railway houses, the factory also started to supply houses for local councils. Those supplied to Lower Hutt were claimed to be £500 cheaper than comparable houses. The sawmill also produced everything else such as signal masts and boxes, bridges, sleepers, and even furniture for railway stations. It was too efficient for private builders, who got the housing factory closed in 1929. When it finally closed in the 1990s it was very dilapidated, but NZHPT supported restoration of the Category 1 historic place, retaining original windows, big sliding doors and the saw-tooth roof. It is now home to a range of businesses.