Rails::VERSION::STRING should always be available. Closes #6244.

git-svn-id: http://svn-commit.rubyonrails.org/rails/trunk@5506 5ecf4fe2-1ee6-0310-87b1-e25e094e27de

railties/CHANGELOG

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Rails::VERSION::STRING should always be available without having to require 'rails/version'.  #6244 [fearoffish]
+
 * Update to Prototype 1.5.0_rc2. [Sam Stephenson]
 
 * Add grep-based fallback to reaper, to work in pidless setups [Jamis Buck]

railties/lib/initializer.rb

@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ def initialize(configuration)
     # Configuration instance.
     def process
       check_ruby_version
+      load_rails_version
       set_load_path
       set_connection_adapters
 
@@ -120,6 +121,11 @@ def check_ruby_version
       require 'ruby_version_check'
     end
 
+    # Rails::VERSION should always be available.
+    def load_rails_version
+      require 'rails/version'
+    end
+
     # Set the <tt>$LOAD_PATH</tt> based on the value of
     # Configuration#load_paths. Duplicates are removed.
     def set_load_path