diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/configuration.rb b/railties/lib/rails/configuration.rb
index d877915460c1fd71ac28a3155aac7bc9365c41d0..1a2f217d201ba06be5b73e6e15bd4b385410b5ee 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/configuration.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/configuration.rb
@@ -62,33 +62,19 @@ def set_root_path!
         end
 
       @paths = Rails::Application::Root.new(root_path)
-      @paths.app                 = "app"
-      @paths.app.metals          = "app/metal"
-      @paths.app.models          = "app/models"
-      @paths.app.controllers     = "app/controllers"
-      @paths.app.helpers         = "app/helpers"
-      @paths.app.services        = "app/services"
-      @paths.lib                 = "lib"
-      @paths.vendor              = "vendor"
-      @paths.vendor.plugins      = "vendor/plugins"
-      @paths.cache               = "tmp/cache"
-      @paths.config              = "config"
-      @paths.config.locales      = "config/locales"
-      @paths.config.environments = "config/environments"
-
-      @paths.app.controllers.concat builtin_directories
-
-      @paths.app.load_path!
-      @paths.app.metals.load_path!
-      @paths.app.models.eager_load!
-      @paths.app.controllers.eager_load!
-      @paths.app.helpers.eager_load!
-      @paths.app.services.load_path!
-      @paths.app.metals.eager_load!
-      @paths.lib.load_path!
-      @paths.vendor.load_path!
-
-      @paths.config.environments.glob = "#{RAILS_ENV}.rb"
+      @paths.app                 "app",             :load_path => true
+      @paths.app.metals          "app/metal",       :eager_load => true
+      @paths.app.models          "app/models",      :eager_load => true
+      @paths.app.controllers     "app/controllers", builtin_directories, :eager_load => true
+      @paths.app.helpers         "app/helpers",     :eager_load => true
+      @paths.app.services        "app/services",    :load_path => true
+      @paths.lib                 "lib",             :load_path => true
+      @paths.vendor              "vendor",          :load_path => true
+      @paths.vendor.plugins      "vendor/plugins"
+      @paths.cache               "tmp/cache"
+      @paths.config              "config"
+      @paths.config.locales      "config/locales"
+      @paths.config.environments "config/environments", :glob => "#{RAILS_ENV}.rb"
 
       RAILS_ROOT.replace root_path
     end
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/paths.rb b/railties/lib/rails/paths.rb
index d2f6d836595aef05cff7329f603267631607ef3a..3899b744b0698a3cf93ffb4173ef687e9c43da8c 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/paths.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/paths.rb
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ module PathParent
       def method_missing(id, *args)
         name = id.to_s
 
-        if name =~ /^(.*)=$/
-          @children[$1] = Path.new(args.first, @root)
+        if name =~ /^(.*)=$/ || args.any?
+          @children[$1 || name] = Path.new(@root, *args)
         elsif path = @children[name]
           path
         else
@@ -28,17 +28,15 @@ def initialize(path)
         # TODO: Move logic from set_root_path initializer
         @path = File.expand_path(path)
         @root = self
-        @load_once, @eager_load, @all_paths = [], [], []
+        @all_paths = []
       end
 
       def load_once
-        @load_once.uniq!
-        @load_once
+        all_paths.map { |path| path.paths if path.load_once? }.compact.flatten.uniq
       end
 
       def eager_load
-        @eager_load.uniq!
-        @eager_load
+        all_paths.map { |path| path.paths if path.eager_load? }.compact.flatten.uniq
       end
 
       def all_paths
@@ -47,7 +45,7 @@ def all_paths
       end
 
       def load_paths
-        all_paths.map { |path| path.paths }.flatten
+        all_paths.map { |path| path.paths if path.load_path? }.compact.flatten.uniq
       end
 
       def add_to_load_path
@@ -55,6 +53,14 @@ def add_to_load_path
           $LOAD_PATH.unshift(path) if File.directory?(path)
         end
       end
+
+      def push(*)
+        raise "Application root can only have one physical path"
+      end
+
+      alias unshift push
+      alias << push
+      alias concat push
     end
 
     class Path
@@ -63,11 +69,18 @@ class Path
       attr_reader :path
       attr_accessor :glob
 
-      def initialize(path, root)
+      def initialize(root, *paths)
+        @options  = paths.last.is_a?(::Hash) ? paths.pop : {}
         @children = {}
         @root     = root
-        @paths    = [path].flatten
-        @glob     = "**/*.rb"
+        @paths    = paths.flatten
+        @glob     = @options[:glob] || "**/*.rb"
+
+        @load_once  = @options[:load_once]
+        @eager_load = @options[:eager_load]
+        @load_path  = @options[:load_path] || @eager_load
+
+        @root.all_paths << self
       end
 
       def push(path)
@@ -86,7 +99,6 @@ def concat(paths)
 
       def load_once!
         @load_once = true
-        @root.load_once.push *self.paths
       end
 
       def load_once?
@@ -95,8 +107,7 @@ def load_once?
 
       def eager_load!
         @eager_load = true
-        @root.all_paths << self
-        @root.eager_load.push *self.paths
+        @load_path  = true
       end
 
       def eager_load?
@@ -105,7 +116,6 @@ def eager_load?
 
       def load_path!
         @load_path = true
-        @root.all_paths << self
       end
 
       def load_path?
diff --git a/railties/test/paths_test.rb b/railties/test/paths_test.rb
index fa2f6ceee23ea376dbab25c94d387bda831ac09f..d50882110fea8b2a79bc496ce2966b055a5e5f09 100644
--- a/railties/test/paths_test.rb
+++ b/railties/test/paths_test.rb
@@ -17,17 +17,37 @@ def setup
     assert_equal ["/foo/bar"], @root.app.to_a
   end
 
+  test "creating a root level path without assignment" do
+    @root.app "/foo/bar"
+    assert_equal ["/foo/bar"], @root.app.to_a
+  end
+
+  test "trying to access a path that does not exist raises NoMethodError" do
+    assert_raises(NoMethodError) { @root.app }
+  end
+
   test "relative paths are relative to the paths root" do
     @root.app = "app"
     assert_equal ["/foo/bar/app"], @root.app.to_a
   end
 
+  test "relative paths are relative to the paths root without assignment" do
+    @root.app "app"
+    assert_equal ["/foo/bar/app"], @root.app.to_a
+  end
+
   test "creating a child level path" do
     @root.app        = "/foo/bar"
     @root.app.models = "/foo/bar/baz"
     assert_equal ["/foo/bar/baz"], @root.app.models.to_a
   end
 
+  test "creating a child level path without assignment" do
+    @root.app        = "/foo/bar"
+    @root.app.models   "/foo/bar/baz"
+    assert_equal ["/foo/bar/baz"], @root.app.models.to_a
+  end
+
   test "child level paths are relative from the root" do
     @root.app        = "/app"
     @root.app.models = "baz"
@@ -40,6 +60,11 @@ def setup
     assert_equal ["/app", "/app2"], @root.app.to_a
   end
 
+  test "adding multiple physical paths as an array without assignment" do
+    @root.app "/app", "/app2"
+    assert_equal ["/app", "/app2"], @root.app.to_a
+  end
+
   test "adding multiple physical paths using #push" do
     @root.app = "/app"
     @root.app.push "/app2"
@@ -66,10 +91,10 @@ def setup
 
   test "the root can only have one physical path" do
     assert_raise(RuntimeError) { Rails::Application::Root.new(["/fiz", "/biz"]) }
-    assert_raise(NoMethodError) { @root.push "/biz"    }
-    assert_raise(NoMethodError) { @root.unshift "/biz" }
-    assert_raise(NoMethodError) { @root.concat ["/biz"]}
-    assert_raise(NoMethodError) { @root << "/biz"      }
+    assert_raise(RuntimeError) { @root.push "/biz"    }
+    assert_raise(RuntimeError) { @root.unshift "/biz" }
+    assert_raise(RuntimeError) { @root.concat ["/biz"]}
+    assert_raise(RuntimeError) { @root << "/biz"      }
   end
 
   test "it is possible to add a path that should be loaded only once" do
@@ -79,6 +104,19 @@ def setup
     assert @root.load_once.include?(@root.app.paths.first)
   end
 
+  test "it is possible to add a path without assignment and specify it should be loaded only once" do
+    @root.app "/app", :load_once => true
+    assert @root.app.load_once?
+    assert @root.load_once.include?("/app")
+  end
+
+  test "it is possible to add multiple paths without assignment and specify it should be loaded only once" do
+    @root.app "/app", "/app2", :load_once => true
+    assert @root.app.load_once?
+    assert @root.load_once.include?("/app")
+    assert @root.load_once.include?("/app2")
+  end
+
   test "making a path load_once more than once only includes it once in @root.load_once" do
     @root.app = "/app"
     @root.app.load_once!
@@ -86,6 +124,13 @@ def setup
     assert_equal 1, @root.load_once.select {|p| p == @root.app.paths.first }.size
   end
 
+  test "paths added to a load_once path should be added to the load_once collection" do
+    @root.app = "/app"
+    @root.app.load_once!
+    @root.app << "/app2"
+    assert_equal 2, @root.load_once.size
+  end
+
   test "it is possible to mark a path as eager" do
     @root.app = "/app"
     @root.app.eager_load!
@@ -93,6 +138,27 @@ def setup
     assert @root.eager_load.include?(@root.app.paths.first)
   end
 
+  test "it is possible to add a path without assignment and mark it as eager" do
+    @root.app "/app", :eager_load => true
+    assert @root.app.eager_load?
+    assert @root.eager_load.include?("/app")
+  end
+
+  test "it is possible to add multiple paths without assignment and mark them as eager" do
+    @root.app "/app", "/app2", :eager_load => true
+    assert @root.app.eager_load?
+    assert @root.eager_load.include?("/app")
+    assert @root.eager_load.include?("/app2")
+  end
+
+  test "it is possible to create a path without assignment and mark it both as eager and load once" do
+    @root.app "/app", :eager_load => true, :load_once => true
+    assert @root.app.eager_load?
+    assert @root.app.load_once?
+    assert @root.eager_load.include?("/app")
+    assert @root.load_once.include?("/app")
+  end
+
   test "making a path eager more than once only includes it once in @root.eager_paths" do
     @root.app = "/app"
     @root.app.eager_load!
@@ -100,6 +166,13 @@ def setup
     assert_equal 1, @root.eager_load.select {|p| p == @root.app.paths.first }.size
   end
 
+  test "paths added to a eager_load path should be added to the eager_load collection" do
+    @root.app = "/app"
+    @root.app.eager_load!
+    @root.app << "/app2"
+    assert_equal 2, @root.eager_load.size
+  end
+
   test "a path should have a glob that defaults to **/*.rb" do
     @root.app = "/app"
     assert_equal "**/*.rb", @root.app.glob
@@ -111,6 +184,11 @@ def setup
     assert_equal "*.rb", @root.app.glob
   end
 
+  test "it should be possible to override a path's default glob without assignment" do
+    @root.app "/app", :glob => "*.rb"
+    assert_equal "*.rb", @root.app.glob
+  end
+
   test "a path can be added to the load path" do
     @root.app = "app"
     @root.app.load_path!
@@ -118,6 +196,12 @@ def setup
     assert_equal ["/foo/bar/app"], @root.load_paths
   end
 
+  test "a path can be added to the load path on creation" do
+    @root.app "/app", :load_path => true
+    assert @root.app.load_path?
+    assert_equal ["/app"], @root.load_paths
+  end
+
   test "adding a path to the eager paths also adds it to the load path" do
     @root.app = "app"
     @root.app.eager_load!