diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index a6035096..bf05aed4 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ gem 'locomotive_jammit-s3', :require => 'jammit-s3'
 gem 'SystemTimer', :platforms => :ruby_18
 gem 'cells'
 
+gem 'highline'
+
 # The rest of the dependencies are for use when in the locomotive dev environment
 
 group :development do
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 427d6678..fb6e46bd 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   growl-glue
   haml (= 3.1.2)
   heroku (= 1.19.1)
+  highline
   httparty (>= 0.6.1)
   inherited_resources (~> 1.1.2)
   launchy
diff --git a/lib/tasks/locomotive.rake b/lib/tasks/locomotive.rake
index 8f16c3e5..a36f5a70 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/locomotive.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/locomotive.rake
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # encoding: utf-8
 
 require 'locomotive'
+require 'highline/import'
 
 namespace :locomotive do
 
@@ -45,6 +46,21 @@ namespace :locomotive do
     ::Locomotive::Import::Job.run!(url, site, { :samples => true, :reset => reset })
   end
 
+  desc 'Add a new admin user (NOTE: currently only supports adding user to first site)'
+  task :add_admin => :environment do
+    name = ask('Display name: ') { |q| q.echo = true }
+    email = ask('Email address: ') { |q| q.echo = true }
+    password = ask('Password: ') { |q| q.echo = '*' }
+    password_confirm = ask('Confirm password: ') { |q| q.echo = '*' }
+
+    account = Account.create :email => email, :password => password, :password_confirmation => password_confirm, :name => name
+
+    # TODO: this should be changed to work for multi-sites (see desc)
+    site = Site.first
+    site.memberships.build :account => account, :role => 'admin'
+    site.save!
+  end
+
   namespace :upgrade do
 
     desc 'Set roles to the existing users'