diff --git a/railties/CHANGELOG b/railties/CHANGELOG
index cc536c342448d..b56a78f2544c2 100644
--- a/railties/CHANGELOG
+++ b/railties/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Added app/services as a default dir in the Rails skeleton and to the load path. Use it to keep classes like MaintenanceService and PaymentGateway [DHH]
+
 * Fixed scaffold generator when started with only 1 parameter #2609 [self@mattmower.com]
 
 * rake should run functional tests even if the unit tests have failures [Jim Weirich]
diff --git a/railties/Rakefile b/railties/Rakefile
index 53b965578ff15..db66c153b056f 100644
--- a/railties/Rakefile
+++ b/railties/Rakefile
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ RUBY_FORGE_USER    = "webster132"
 
 
 BASE_DIRS   = %w( app config/environments components db doc log lib lib/tasks public script script/performance script/process test vendor vendor/plugins )
-APP_DIRS    = %w( apis models controllers helpers views views/layouts )
+APP_DIRS    = %w( apis models controllers helpers services views views/layouts )
 PUBLIC_DIRS = %w( images javascripts stylesheets )
 TEST_DIRS   = %w( fixtures unit functional mocks mocks/development mocks/test )
 
diff --git a/railties/environments/environment.rb b/railties/environments/environment.rb
index 576667d72ef12..ee6edb1dbbff0 100644
--- a/railties/environments/environment.rb
+++ b/railties/environments/environment.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
   # config.frameworks -= [ :action_web_service, :action_mailer ]
 
   # Add additional load paths for your own custom dirs
-  # config.load_paths += %W( #{RAILS_ROOT}/app/services )
+  # config.load_paths += %W( #{RAILS_ROOT}/extras )
 
   # Force all environments to use the same logger level 
   # (by default production uses :info, the others :debug)
diff --git a/railties/lib/initializer.rb b/railties/lib/initializer.rb
index 350930bb1538e..70c0eed86676f 100644
--- a/railties/lib/initializer.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/initializer.rb
@@ -395,6 +395,7 @@ def default_load_paths
           app/models 
           app/controllers 
           app/helpers 
+          app/services 
           app/apis 
           components 
           config 
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails_generator/generators/applications/app/app_generator.rb b/railties/lib/rails_generator/generators/applications/app/app_generator.rb
index 2e26101c6a54e..220262bf099e3 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails_generator/generators/applications/app/app_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails_generator/generators/applications/app/app_generator.rb
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ def add_options!(opt)
     app/controllers
     app/helpers
     app/models
+    app/services
     app/views/layouts
     config/environments
     components